Consumers Union: AT&T's, Verizon’s Response to Robocalls Falls Short

AT&T and Verizon aren’t doing enough to protect their customers from being harassed by unwanted robocalls, Consumers Union said Tuesday. When CU launched its End Robocalls campaign in February, AT&T and Verizon responded with letters outlining their efforts, but CU said those efforts have failed to put a dent in the unwanted calls targeting customers. CenturyLink hasn't responded to CU’s campaign, it said. In response to the campaign, both AT&T and Verizon highlighted their work with government, industry and engineering groups to address robocalls and touted existing technologies in the marketplace, CU said. But no effective tools are currently available for free to most consumers, it said. Requests for comment from both AT&T and Verizon were not responded to immediately Tuesday. AT&T and Verizon have argued that call-blocking tools would prevent customers from receiving legitimate robocalls, CU said. It said customers deserve the right to decide for themselves whether the benefits of using call-blocking tools outweigh any potential downside and added that customers could provide carriers with a “white list” to let trusted numbers go through.