AMERICAN SECURITIES’ BIG BET ON PRISON PHONE CALLS

The report details how American Securities' ownership of Global Tel Link (GTL) has led to predatory pricing and fee harvesting in the US correctional telecommunications market. It highlights the financial burden on low-income families, the recording of privileged attorney-client calls, and a bribery scandal in Mississippi. The document also examines GTL's expansion into digital tablets and video calling, arguing that these services often replace in-person visits and create new revenue streams from a captive market. Finally, it notes a growing trend of municipalities moving toward free correctional calls and increased legislative scrutiny of private equity's role in prison services.

• Global Tel Link (GTL), owned by American Securities since 2011, is the largest provider of correctional telephone and communication systems in the US, serving approximately 1.8 million incarcerated individuals, which is nearly 80 percent of the US correctional population.
• GTL and its competitors employ a 'kickback' model where a significant portion of phone call revenue is paid back to correctional facilities to secure monopoly contracts; these commissions typically range between 20 and 63 percent and can reach as high as 90 percent.
• The cost of staying in touch with incarcerated loved ones disproportionately affects women of color, with 87 percent of the family members responsible for these costs belonging to that demographic, and one in three families going into debt to pay for communication.
• GTL has engaged in 'fee harvesting' to bypass FCC rate restrictions, including charging $5-$10 to deposit money into accounts and seizing remaining balances or charging $5 to recoup funds when an individual is released.
• Between 2015 and 2018, GTL improperly recorded 4,356 attorney-client privileged phone calls in Orange County, California, and similar failures occurred in Charlotte County and Pinellas County, Florida, due to errors during platform updates.
• GTL settled a case for $2.5 million in early 2019 following allegations that it conspired to use bribes and kickbacks between 2011 and 2014 to maintain its contract with the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
• GTL's expansion into digital tablets creates a captive market where users are charged for services that are otherwise free, such as reading books from Project Gutenberg in West Virginia at a rate of $0.03 per minute.
• The adoption of video calling often leads to the elimination of in-person visits; approximately 75 percent of facilities eliminate in-person visitation after adopting video calling, which is often more expensive for families.

APA

Baker, J. (2020). AMERICAN SECURITIES’ BIG BET ON PRISON PHONE CALLS. Private Equity Stakeholder Project. https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/American-Securities-Big-Bet-on-Prison-Phone-Calls-PESP-022020.pdf

Chicago

Baker, Jim. AMERICAN SECURITIES’ BIG BET ON PRISON PHONE CALLS. Private Equity Stakeholder Project, 2020. https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/American-Securities-Big-Bet-on-Prison-Phone-Calls-PESP-022020.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Baker |first1=Jim |title=AMERICAN SECURITIES’ BIG BET ON PRISON PHONE CALLS |publisher=Private Equity Stakeholder Project |date=February 2020 |url=https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/American-Securities-Big-Bet-on-Prison-Phone-Calls-PESP-022020.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{baker2020american, author = {Baker, Jim}, title = {{AMERICAN SECURITIES’ BIG BET ON PRISON PHONE CALLS}}, institution = {Private Equity Stakeholder Project}, year = {2020}, month = feb, url = {https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/American-Securities-Big-Bet-on-Prison-Phone-Calls-PESP-022020.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }