Industry Urges Robocall Mitigation Requirement

USTelecom, the Session Initiation Protocol Forum and carriers warned FCC staff of potential pitfalls in implementing secure telephone identity revisited (Stir) and secure handling of asserted information using tokens (Shaken) as a tool to block unwanted robocalls. “Widespread deployment by originating and terminating VoIP providers will reduce the effectiveness of illegal spoofing and assist efforts to quickly identify calls with illegally spoofed caller ID information,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 17-97: “Deployment obligations beyond voice service providers’ authentication at origination and verification at termination, however, can undermine the framework.” They said every Form 499 filer should “be required to certify that it has implemented an appropriate robocall mitigation program and the Commission should maintain a database identifying the providers that issued those certifications.” Representatives of the two groups, AT&T, CenturyLink, Frontier and Verizon spoke with staff from the Wireline and Public Safety bureaus.