FCC Hears Different Takes on Anti-Robocalling Efforts in Comments for Staff Report With FTC

Commenters offered mixed views on actions and proposals to fight unwanted robocalling, as comments were posted Friday and Monday in docket 17-59 on an FCC public notice soliciting input for an upcoming staff report in consultation with FTC. There is no "silver bullet," so "efforts continue to move forward across multiple fronts," including "increasing deployment of various tools to consumers, advancing efforts with respect to the deployment of SHAKEN [Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using toKENs] and STIR [Secure Telephone Identify Revisited], as well as the Commission’s expansion of carriers’ ability to block illegal robocalls," said USTelecom, citing "marked strides" in the areas. "Industry and the FCC are aggressively working to mitigate illegal robocalling," said CTIA: "Efforts are promising, but with so much going on, it is premature to try to measure the effectiveness." Comcast said "significant progress has been made on various fronts," with "further important efforts" ongoing. "Despite ongoing progress by industry in formulating best practices and bringing call blocking technologies to market, illegal robocalls remain a significant concern," said the Professional Association for Customer Engagement. PACE urged the FCC to continue to engage with "industry organizations, such as the Communication Protection Coalition, that seek to implement best practices" and to promote "implementation of the SHAKEN/STIR framework." It called on industry and the FCC to "ensure that the telephone network remains available to legal callers and that legal callers are provided an opportunity to challenge erroneous blocking/labeling." The American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management backed FCC efforts "to protect consumers from illegal robocalls by bad actors. Consumers Union, the National Consumer Law Center and Consumer Federation of America warned "against narrowly focusing on scam robocalls exclusively," saying "the FCC and FTC should solicit data to assess the scope of the entire robocall problem, from phone companies, callers, and call-mitigation services." Others commenting: The American Cable Association, AmeriFactors Financial Group, AT&T, ATIS, First Orion, Neustar, Noble Systems, Sprint, TNS, TransNexus and Verizon.