Telephone and Texting Compliance News: Regulatory Update — FCC Announces Meeting of the North American Numbering Council

The North American Numbering Council (NANC) will hold a meeting on December 12, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. ET in the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) meeting room.

At the meeting, the NANC will consider and vote on several reports and recommendations from the NANC working groups on the following topics:

• Foreign-originated calls, the use of indirectly obtained numbers, and the use of numbers supplied on a trial basis by interconnected VoIP providers that obtain direct access to numbers from the Call Authentication Trust Anchor Working Group;
• Number use and resale, and number reclamation, by interconnected VoIP providers that obtain direct access to numbers from the Numbering Administration Oversight Working Group; and
• The use of North American Numbering Plan numbers for routing and addressing Internet of Things communications from the Internet of Things Numbering Usage Working Group.

The topics the NANC will consider in December correspond to issues raised by a Commission Second Report and Order and Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted in September last year. As reported in October 2023, the Second Report and Order imposed several new obligations on applicants seeking direct access to numbering resources to better police certain numbering abuses and ensure compliance with the Commission’s robocalling rules. The related Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Second Further Notice) sought comment on proposals that would extend the new obligations adopted for applicants to existing direct access authorization holders. The Second Further Notice also seeks to impose new obligations on resellers of numbers. The Commission has not yet acted on the Second Further Notice, although the comment period closed on December 29, 2023.

The NANC is a Federal Advisory Committee established by the Commission to advise and make recommendations to foster efficient and impartial administration of numbering resources. The NANC comprises representatives from telecommunications, cable, and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers, industry associations, vendors, consumer advocacy organizations, and state and federal regulators. The NANC working groups are made up of industry experts in specific areas of telecommunications and assist the NANC in its efforts.

The NANC meeting will be open to the public, and comments may be submitted through the Commission’s Electronic Comment Filing System in WC Docket No. 23-1.

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