Telephone and Texting Compliance News: Regulatory Update — FCC Expands and Modifies Call Blocking Requirements at February Meeting

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted an Eighth Report and Order on call blocking at its February 27 Open Meeting. The Eighth Report and Order adopts two proposals related to the FCC’s requirements to block certain call traffic.

First, the FCC will now require all providers in a call path to block calls based on a reasonable Do-Not-Originate (DNO) list. Previously, only gateway providers — i.e., a U.S.-based intermediate provider that serves as an entry point for foreign-originated call traffic — were obligated to block calls from numbers on a DNO list. Consistent with its current DNO obligations, the FCC declined to establish a single uniform list of DNO numbers, instead opting to continue specifying only the categories of numbers that should be included on a “reasonable” DNO. These categories include invalid, unallocated, and unused numbers, as well as numbers for which a subscriber has requested that they not originate calls. Providers may exercise some discretion in deciding which numbers to include on their DNO lists, but all compliant lists must include (i) “any inbound-only government numbers where the government entity has requested the number be included” and (ii) “private inbound-only numbers that have been used in imposter scams, when a request is made by the private entity assigned such a number.” Providers who do not already block calls on a DNO list will need to begin doing so 90 days after the Eighth Report and Order is published in the Federal Register.

Second, the Eighth Report and Order modifies the requirement mandating voice service providers to immediately notify callers when the provider blocks a call using reasonable analytics software. Based on the recent decision, providers must use only Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) code 603+ instead of 603, 607, or 608, as the FCC previously allowed. The FCC noted that SIP code 603+ will best ensure that callers are aware that their calls have been blocked and take the necessary steps to quickly resolve any erroneous blocking. The FCC will require providers to begin using SIP Code 603+ no later than 12 months after the Eighth Report and Order is published in the Federal Register.

In adopting the Eighth Report and Order, the FCC emphasized that DNO blocking can be especially useful during this time of year — “tax time” — as there are often widespread robocalling scams related to Americans’ tax returns or liabilities. Because many government agencies only utilize phone numbers that do not make outbound calls, the FCC determined that focusing on blocking those numbers will help reduce those fraudulent calls.

With the change in leadership at the FCC from Chairwoman Rosenworcel to Chairman Carr, it was unclear how aggressive the agency would continue to be in addressing robocalling. Chairman Carr, however, wasted no time showing that he plans to remain vigilant in fighting illegal robocalling, stating that “the Commission is going to continue its work to accelerate our crackdown on the scourge of illegal robocalls.” Adding that “[w]hile there is no silver bullet, the FCC needs to keep pushing forward on multiple fronts . . . to stop illegal robocalls before they ever reach consumers.”

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