French ministry of justice launches tender to deploy phones in prison cells

France's ministry of justice has launched a tender for a project that will bring fixed telephony services to 50,144 prison cells across the country. The ministry is inviting bids for the supply, installation, operation and maintenance of the infrastructure, which will be designed to deliver voice and video-conference services to detainees while enabling a system of controls by the administration.

Reporting on the news, Le Monde reveals that this large-scale project follows a pilot carried out in the prison at Montmedy, launched in July 2016. During the trial period, detainees were allowed to access a phone line to dial a handful of previously authorised numbers to keep in touch with their families. The cost of the calls was around 20 percent lower that the tariffs charged from the phone booths already present in the building.

Under a ten-year concession, the winner of the tender is expected to fund the entirety of the project and earn a return from call revenues. The installation work across 178 prisons is expected to last approximately 30 months.