March 31 FCC Meeting May Have Vote on Caller ID Authentication Mandate Pai is Circulating

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai will propose his colleagues vote at their March 31 meeting to require phone service providers to cut down on spoofed robocalls through caller ID authentication using secure telephone identity revisited standards and signature-based handling of asserted information using tokens. That would deliver on Pai's previous comments on Stir/Shaken and a newer law.

"Last year, I demanded that major phone companies voluntarily deploy STIR/SHAKEN, and a number of them did," Pai said Friday morning. "It’s clear that FCC action is needed to spur across-the-board deployment of this important technology. There is no silver bullet when it comes to eradicating robocalls, but this is a critical shot at the target.”

Originating and terminating voice service providers would need to implement Stir/Shaken in the IP portions of their networks by June 30, 2021. A Further NPRM would propose one-year extensions for small and rural providers.

Industry and FCC officials didn't respond to our queries in the minutes after the announcement.