Prison Phone Justice

Human Rights Defense Center
DEDICATED TO PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS

April 7, 2016

Submitted Online Only
Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, S.W.
Washington, DC 20554
RE:

Ex Parte Submission
Promoting Technological Solutions to Combat Contraband
Wireless Devices Use in Correctional Facilities
WC Docket No. 13-111

Dear Ms. Dortch:
Attached for Filing on WC Docket No. 13-111 is a letter from the Human Rights
Defense Center regarding the non-disclosure of a Securus employee/panelist at the April 6,
2016 FCC Field Hearing on contraband cellphones.
Thank you for your time and attention in this regard.
Sincerely,

Paul Wright.
Executive Director, HRDC

P.O. Box 1151
Lake Worth, FL 33460
Phone: 561-360-2523 Fax: 866-735-7136
pwright@prisonlegalnews.org

Human Rights Defense Center
DEDICATED TO PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS

April 7, 2016

Submitted Via Email Only
Commissioner Ajit Pai
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, S.W.
Washington, DC 20554

RE:

April 6, 2016 FCC Field Hearing
Failure to Disclose Identity of a Securus Technologies Employee
Promoting Technological Solutions to Combat Contraband
Wireless Devices Use in Correctional Facilities
WC Docket No. 13-111

Dear Commissioner Pai:
The Human Rights Defense Center (HRDC) respectfully requests clarification with
regard to the undisclosed participation of a Securus Technologies (Securus) employee in
the Field Hearing on Contraband Cellphones conducted yesterday in Columbia, South
Carolina.
Dan Wigger, one of the panelists selected to discuss Managed Access systems, was
introduced in the hearing’s Agenda as “the Vice President and Managing Director for
solution vendor CellBlox.” 1 While this may be true, the Agenda failed to mention that
CellBlox was purchased by Securus Technologies in January 2015 (Attachment 1) and
that Securus announced its hiring of Mr. Wigger in March 2015 to “be responsible for the
day-to-day management of our Managed Access Systems (MAS) business that installs
proprietary high tech software, preventing contraband wireless device use in prisons and
jails in the United States.” (Attachment 2).
1

https://www.fcc.gov/news-events/events/2016/04/commissioner-pais-field-hearing-contraband-cellphones

P.O. Box 1151
Lake Worth, FL 33460
Phone: 561-360-2523 Fax: 866-735-7136
pwright@prisonlegalnews.org

Page |2
We believe that the panel’s intentional non-disclosure of Mr. Wigger’s employment
by Securus misleads the public, media and government officials into mistakenly thinking
they are hearing unbiased and objective testimony, which perpetuates the lack of
transparency and openness that permeates the ICS industry.
Mr. Wigger’s presentation at yesterday’s Field Hearing was nothing more than
Securus Technologies advertising its Managed Access product. As you know from
questions submitted by HRDC prior to the Field Hearing, we are very concerned that ICS
providers, including Securus, will use contraband cellphones detections as yet another way
to price gouge prisoners and their families as they have been allowed to do in the prison
phone industry for decades. As you are aware, the unscrupulous business practices of ICS
providers, including Securus, have been well documented on FCC Docket WC 12-375,
resulting in what has been accurately described by Commissioner Clyburn as “the most
egregious case of market failure” she has seen in her 17 years as a regulator. Further, it would
have been worth noting Mr. Wigger’s affiliation with Securus at the hearing given that Securus
has filed suit challenging the FCC’s 2015 order implementing rate caps and other reforms of the
prison phone industry, which directly impact Securus’ bottom line.
Were you aware that Mr. Wigger is employed by a company owned by Securus? If so,
were the other participants at the hearing aware of this? Why wasn’t Mr. Wigger’s employment
affiliation with Securus disclosed to the public and media at the Field Hearing?
We look forward to your clarification regarding this issue. Thank you for your time and
attention in this matter.

Sincerely,

Paul Wright.
Executive Director, HRDC
Attachments
cc (by/email):
Governor Nikki Haley
Bob Wells, Executive Director, South Carolina Bar Association
Chairman Thomas Wheeler
Commissioner Mignon Clyburn
Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel
Commissioner Ajit Pai
Commissioner Michael O’Rielly
Matt DelNero, Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau
Gigi Sohn, Counselor to Chairman Wheeler
Rebekah Goodheart, Legal Advisor to Commissioner Clyburn
Travis Litman, Senior Legal Advisor to Commissioner Rosenworcel
Nicholas Degani, Legal Advisor to Commissioner Pai
Amy Bender, Legal Advisor to Commissioner O'Rielly

Attachment 1

4/7/2016

Securus Technologies Purchases CellBlox - Key Provider of Technology That Limits Contraband





fl

(/)

Securus Technologies Purchases CellBlox - Key
Provider of Technology That Limits Contraband
Wireless Use in Prisons and Jails
Securus Further Expands Industry Leading Technology Portfolio to Include a Second
Proprietary Managed Wireless Access System (MAS) Provider - CellBlox.
Jan 14, 2015, 13:10 ET from Securus Technologies (http://www.prnewswire.com/news/securus+technologies)











Securus Technologies Inc.
Facebook ()

Twitter

Pinterest

DALLAS, Jan. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Securus Technologies, a leading provider of civil and
criminal justice technology solutions for public safety, investigation, corrections and monitoring,
announced today that it has purchased the assets of CellBlox, Inc., a leading provider of Managed
Access Systems (MAS) that limit the use of contraband wireless units in prisons and jails in the
United States.

"We continue to build on our industry leading proprietary high-tech solutions portfolio of products
that we provide to the government sector and our agreement to acquire CellBlox, Inc. is a great
addition," said Richard A. ("Rick") Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Securus Technologies, Inc.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/securus-technologies-purchases-cellblox--key-provider-of-technology-that-limits-contraband-wireless-use-in-pris…

1/5

4/7/2016

Securus Technologies Purchases CellBlox - Key Provider of Technology That Limits Contraband

"We not only have exclusivity in the United States to the Vanu Tactical MAS product – but now own
all of the technology of CellBlox, Inc. – and that further expands our MAS product set with more
people and more sophisticated hardware and software that greatly limits the use of contraband
wireless units in the restricted areas of prisons and jails in the United States. We want to be the #1
provider of this technology and with this acquisition – we are," said Smith.

"Both Vanu Tactical and now CellBlox have developed proprietary technology that sorts out
legitimate wireless device use and lets those calls/messaging proceed in a normal way but does
not allow contraband units/signals to leave the facility and we are now the #1 provider of that
technology in the United States," said Smith.

D. Edward LaChance, Chief Executive Officer of CellBlox, Inc. said, "Eliminating the use of
contraband wireless units in restricted areas in prisons and jails utilizing an elegant technology
solution has been our sole focus since we established CellBlox – and our team here has
accomplished that in a big way. Securus is the perfect company for CellBlox's technology
solutions to reside in – they have the largest number of products, they embrace creative IT
solutions, they invest heavily in technology, they were easy for us to deal with, and they have the
largest sales team in the sector – so there was no other choice for us."

Steel Pier Capital (SPC), a privately held, operationally driven private equity firm based in New York
City, with its limited partners and global network of investors has financially backed CellBlox as a
portfolio company since 2010.

About CellBlox, Inc.

CellBlox, Inc. is headquartered in Huntsville, AL and is an emerging industry leading provider of a
superior Managed Access System (MAS) product. The CellBlox MAS leverages existing managed
access technology which has been used in International markets for the last 15 years combined
with CellBlox state of the art DAS, proprietary scanning and policy engine and CellBlox integrated
operating system provides unsurpassed flexibility, scalability and responsiveness through dynamic
configuration and remote management. CellBlox is unmatched in its ability to meet the demands
of the cellular managed access market. The initial target market for CellBlox is unauthorized use of
cellular phones in secured facilities. The CellBlox team is working with federal and state authorities

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/securus-technologies-purchases-cellblox--key-provider-of-technology-that-limits-contraband-wireless-use-in-pris…

2/5

4/7/2016

Securus Technologies Purchases CellBlox - Key Provider of Technology That Limits Contraband

to refine and deploy the revolutionary CellBlox product. CellBlox has offices in Huntsville,
AL; Cambridge, MA; Atlanta, GA; and Washington D.C. You can learn more about CellBlox by
visiting www.cellblox.com (http://www.cellblox.com/).

About Securus Technologies

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and serving more than 2,600 public safety, law enforcement and
corrections agencies and over 1,000,000 inmates across North America, Securus Technologies is
committed to serve and connect by providing emergency response, incident management, public
information, investigation, verification, communication, information management, inmate selfservice, and monitoring products and services in order to make our world a safer place to live.
Securus Technologies focuses on connecting what matters™. To learn more about our full suite of
civil and criminal justice technology solutions, please visit www.securustech.net
(http://www.securustech.net/).

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100831/DA57799LOGO
(http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100831/DA57799LOGO)

SOURCE Securus Technologies

RELATED LINKS
http://www.securustech.net (http://www.securustech.net)

Journalists and Bloggers

The news you need, when you need it.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/securus-technologies-purchases-cellblox--key-provider-of-technology-that-limits-contraband-wireless-use-in-pris…

3/5

Attachment 2

Securus Expands Executive Team to Manage
Expanded Portfolio of Products and Acquisitions
Securus Technologies hires Messrs. Jon Secrest and Dan Wigger.
Mar 17, 2015, 18:34 ET from Securus Technologies, Inc.
(http://www.prnewswire.com/news/securus+technologies%2C+inc.)















fl

(/)

Securus Technologies Inc.
Facebook ()

Twitter

Pinterest

DALLAS, March 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Securus Technologies, a leading provider of civil and
criminal justice technology solutions for public safety, investigation, corrections and monitoring,
announced today that it has added two (2) executives to manage its expanded portfolio of
products and acquisitions.

Jon Secrest, Vice President of New Growth Opportunities, and Dan Wigger, Vice President and
Managing Director of Managed Access Systems both recently joined Securus.

"These additions to our Executive Team were easy for me to justify," said Richard A. ("Rick") Smith,
Chief Executive Officer of Securus Technologies. "I have worked with Messrs. Secrest and Wigger
for nine (9) and three (3) years respectively at our previous company, Eschelon, Inc. – a regional

competitive business focused local exchange carrier that we took public in 2005 and sold to a
competitor in 2007. We generated over $700 million in economic value at Eschelon during our
work there. Both of these executives were instrumental in what we accomplished at Eschelon –
they have the personal attributes of good work ethic, they are smart, they have quality academic
credentials, they know how to exceed customer expectations, they know how to grow and create
useful products – so they fit well with the Securus executive team."

Mr. Secrest will be responsible for New Growth Opportunities including working with our long list of
recent acquisitions to integrate and expand their product offerings. Jon started his business
career in 1982 at Paragon Cable and had steadily increasing responsibilities through his position at
ADC Telecommunications where he was the Vice President of Global Marketing and the Chief
Marketing Officer of Enterprise Networks. Mr. Secrest has a BA in Marketing and Economics and
graduated Magna Cum Laude from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Mr. Wigger will be responsible for the day-to-day management of our Managed Access Systems
(MAS) business that installs proprietary high tech software, preventing contraband wireless device
use in prisons and jails in the United States. Dan started his business career in 1991 at Pacific Bell
and had steadily increasing responsibilities through his position at Integra Telecom where he was
the Vice President of Operations. Mr. Wigger has a BS in Business Administration and graduated
Cum Laude from California State University.

"At the end of this year and every year from now on – when we look at the report card for Messrs.
Secrest and Wigger, we will see value added far in excess of their salaries," said Smith. "So good
for inmates, friends and family, our prison and jail partners, and our investors."

ABOUT SECURUS TECHNOLOGIES
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and serving more than 2,600 public safety, law enforcement and
corrections agencies and over 1,000,000 inmates across North America, Securus Technologies is
committed to serve and connect by providing emergency response, incident management, public
information, investigation, biometric analysis, communication, information management, inmate
self-service, and monitoring products and services in order to make our world a safer place to live.
Securus Technologies focuses on connecting what matters®. To learn more about our full suite of
civil and criminal justice technology solutions, please visit SecurusTechnologies.com.