The FCC issued its first ever report on illegal robocalls. The Robocall Report discusses widespread implementation by carriers of the proactive blocking of invalid, unallocated, and unused numbers. It also explains agency development of a reassigned number database to help legitimate callers avoid accidentally calling the wrong consumer when trying to reach a customer who had signed up for the service.
Concerning enforcement, the report explains FCC efforts to push for industry-wide cooperation with agency traceback efforts—a process by which government authorities can identify the origination of many telephone calls or text messages in order to catch those violating the law.
Looking ahead, the FCC is aware that some network upgrades are necessary to fully implement and utilize caller ID authentication standards. The Commission is looking for further opportunities to empower call blocking without blocking legal calls.
Chairman Pai stated: “There’s no easy or single answer, but by using every tool in our toolbox, we are fighting against the onslaught of unwanted calls that has led a lot of consumers to stop answering the phone altogether.”
February 15, 2019
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