Comment by jcranmer

> Because if so this is outrageous, calls do not cost that much to make

About 15 years ago, phone companies (both mobile and landline) essentially switched to being internet providers with phone service on the side, and when that happened, you stopped being charged for individual calls (within the US at least). Before the trend to unlimited phone calls, the typical rate for a phone call was roughly in a $0.10/min region.

In that light, it's less that prisons charge outrageous amounts of money for a phone call and more that they're only people who are providing phone service that's not a side project of internet service.