Paid subscription service to free platform/app provides more buffering than content.
[This article was originally published at https://idahoprisonblog.quora.com and appears here with author’s permission]
On 9/15/25, prisoners at the Idaho State Correctional Center (ISCC) were issued new tablets with content provided by ICS/ViaPath (formerly GTL or GlobalTel Link). Since then, it has come to light that the platform is serious lacking in apps/programs that are really needed in the prison environment, and the paid subscriptions which are available aren’t living up to their hype.
One of the most significant (and easily remedied) issues was that prisoners were promised the availability of a [paid] subscription service to Pluto TV – a service which is free to the public but costs prisoners $15 per month. Many prisoners were overjoyed of the prospect of decent programming as the television cable system at the prison facilities south of Boise has been terrible in both content and signal strength since the contract was taken over by A+ Satellite in Meridian, Idaho.
Once the Pluto TV subscription app became available on the tablets, it looked fantastic, but once purchased and opened, it immediately became clear that something was wrong. While the number and variety of channels listings were impressive, it soon became clear that many of these channels are not available. It is unclear where the problem lies in that the channels aren’t really controversial, nor do they contain any prohibited or objectional content (unless someone is concerned that prisoners are watching reruns of Ancient Aliens or Judge Judy).
Certainly the signal strength isn’t the problem, because we can see the commercials [ads] on those channels, but not the programming. The app “locks up” every couple hours and requires prisoners to do a hard shutdown and restart of the tablet before they can continue watching any program.
In preparation for writing this article, I had a friend on the outside log onto Pluto TV on his computer. While on the phone with him, we compared channel availability. While he could watch the content of [for example] channel 1530 (Unexplained Zone) where people were ‘In Search of Bigfoot’, I could not see it. When ads appeared for my friend on that channel, I was able to see the very same ads. On some other channels, I WAS able to see the same content he was able to see.
I was told (by another prisoner who spent time in another state) that this channel-specific unavailability is due to ICS/ViaPath engaging lockouts (probably parental controls) on those channels. I don’t know if that’s true, but if it is, why would Gomer Pyle, USMC present such a concern? Why would all the news channels be unavailable, or Miss Marple on Britbox Mysteries (Pluto TV Channel 1090) be an issue? It’s beyond me.
In either case, despite TERMS OF SERVICE indicating that providers reserve the right to remove channels, prisoners weren’t informed prior to purchasing the subscription that these channels – nearly half of the listings – HAVE been made unavailable. Further, the buffering on the channels we do receive is constant and makes programs almost unwatchable. Whether this issue is due to a lack of available bandwidth or just the nature of the beast is unclear, but with the many other issues with these new (though seriously outdated) tablets, something needs to be done to rectify at least some of the problems.
Let’s start with the Pluto TV app.