FCC, Industry Focused on Robocalls Amid Pandemic, FCBA CLE Hears

The FCC isn't backing down against robocalls, Wireline Bureau Chief Kris Monteith told an FCBA webinar Tuesday. “Work is ongoing at the commission and growing on all fronts,” she said. “We will continue to make policy to allow for better enforcement to promote industry efforts to prevent robocalls."

Chairman Ajit Pai recognizes hatred of unwanted robocalls unites people more than any other issue, Monteith said. Robocalls were already the FCC’s top consumer priority and “it is even more important and vital” during the COVID-19 outbreak, she said. Last year, the FCC received almost 200,000 such complaints, about 65 percent of the total.

Technological advantages in telecom in some cases have hurt, Monteith said. “Widely available VoIP software allows malicious actors to make large numbers of calls with minimal ... costs,” she said: “These technologies can enable the falsification, or spoofing, of the caller ID.” Competition is good, but more voice service providers “can mean less trust built into the structure of the network,” Monteith said. Not all spoofing or robocalling is illegal or unwanted, she noted. “The problem is not as simple as just outlawing spoofing or outlawing robocalls,” she said. Robocalls have eroded trust in networks, she said.

AT&T is focused on the issue, including as part of FCC and industry efforts, said Linda Vandeloop, assistant vice president-external and regulatory affairs. AT&T gives consumers “tools” to monitor and block robocalls, she said: “We analyze our network … to identify new illegal robocalling patterns, and when we do, we block them.” Robocallers “try whatever works,” she said: “They don't bother buying” caller lists," she said. They don’t need to. They just randomly dial the numbers and hope to hit a target.”

The carrier is seeing “the same old” robocalling campaigns “with a COVID-19 twist,” Vandeloop said. The company has had a recent reduction in robocalls, partially because call centers in India are shuttered but also because of ramped up efforts by the FCC and FTC, she said. Other officials said similar Monday (see 2004200062).

Analytics engines like First Orion provide software that tells consumers when a call is likely a scam, and it works with call originators “to make sure that good and wanted calls get connected," said John Ayers, vice president-business and corporate development. "It’s not all about just identifying and labeling and blocking the calls,” he said: The goal is to “restore confidence” so consumers feel comfortable answering their phones.

Some robocalls are illegal, such as scams that attempt to defraud, said Sarah Leggin, CTIA director-regulatory affairs. Others “can be legitimate calls from your pharmacy, your school district, your local government,” she said. There’s a gray area, “a legitimate business trying to reach a consumer that they didn’t have consent to reach,” she said: Industry is trying to help consumers sort through unwanted calls while making sure legitimate robocalls get through. Carriers “are deploying tailored solutions to fight” COVID scams “head on,” she said.

“We’re in the midst of a flurry of activity” on robocalls, said Wiley’s Kat Scott. This week saw two FCC Federal Register items (see 2004200018) and a public notice, she noted.

FCC rules requiring originating and terminating voice service providers implement the secure handling of asserted information using tokens (Shaken) and secure telephone identity revisited (Stir) caller ID authentication framework in the IP portions of their networks by June 30 should help restore trust, Monteith said.