On September 4, 2024, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced new rules intended to further protect consumers from illegal robocalls and texts to be considered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) at its September 26th Open Meeting.
The new rules were included in a Report & Order which, if adopted, would bolster current FCC rules governing call blocking and robocall mitigation requirements currently imposed on Voice Service Providers (VSPs). The new rules being considered are summarized as follows:
- All VSPs in a call path would be required to block calls based on a reasonable do-not-originate list comprised of unused, unallocated, inbound, or invalid numbers. The current blocking rules only apply to gateway providers.
- All terminating and non-gateway intermediate VSPs would be required to block illegal voice traffic following notification by the FCC.
- A new base penalty to be imposed upon VSPs that fail to comply with FCC rules requiring them to adopt effective measures to prevent new customers from originating illegal calls, which the FCC Enforcement Bureau will can increase to the maximum amount allowed under the FCC’s rules for non-common carriers.
- VSPs would be required to inform callers when and why their calls are blocked based on reasonable analytics so they can correct any errors that may occur.
- Originating mobile wireless providers will be required to block illegal texts from a particular source after receiving a notification from the FCC and, should a wireless provider fail to comply, the FCC Enforcement Bureau can order all downstream VSPs to block all traffic from that provider.
- Mobile wireless providers would be required to offer email-to-text services (a frequent source of illegal texts) on an opt-in basis only.
The Mounting Burden on Voice Service Providers
The FCC’s intense desire to curb illegal robocalls and texts is laudable and understandable, but continually increasing the already huge compliance burden on VSPs, and further upping the already existential consequences of noncompliance, is unfair and likely to generate unintended consequences that will ripple through the telecommunications ecosystem.
Smart providers of voice and text services have already implemented highly effective measures to minimize illegal traffic on their networks, efforts that have borne fruit in the form of significant reductions in the volume of illegal calls and texts. Placing further burdens on these companies to monitor and control their customers will do little to improve this encouraging trend.
If the past is prologue, the FCC is certain to adopt these new rules at its next Open Meeting. If and when that happens, it is vital that stakeholders have their say and provide meaningful comments on the effect these additional compliance burdens will have on their operations, and the likelihood of their making the slightest bit of difference in solving the problems they are intended to address.
