Texas Inmate Phone System Begins

State prison officials long had opposed expanded phone access, fearing inmates could maintain their criminal connections to the outside world. But officials say technology has improved so the calls can be monitored, recorded and limited to those on the list of approved contacts.

State lawmakers in 2007 overwhelmingly approved the measure allowing the project.

Embarq handles state prison telephone contracts in a half dozen states and will keep the first 60 percent of revenues. The remaining money, up to $10 million, will go to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund. Proceeds beyond that will be split evenly between the state's general revenue and the victim's fund.

The Legislative Budget Board has estimated annual revenue at about $5.8 million.

Embarq spokesman Tom Matthews said the installation has been a "massive project" made even more challenging at the state's prisons.

"There was no infrastructure anywhere," he said, saying the work involved basic things like stringing wire. "None of the facilities ever had that."

Some corrections experts believe the availability of phone communication allows inmates to keep in regular touch with relatives and that continued phone access can be used as an incentive for a convict to behave. Phones also are seen as a way to ease the financial strain on relatives who want to visit an inmate in a prison far from them.