Industry, States Disagree on VoIP Direct Numbering FNPRM

Industry and state officials disagreed whether the FCC's Further NPRM to impose additional requirements for those seeking direct numbering resources would further efforts to curb illegal robocalls, in replies posted Tuesday in docket 13-97 (see 2110180045). Require applicants for direct numbering access to disclose foreign ownership information and those with authorization to update the commission of any ownership changes within 30 days, said attorneys general from every state and the District of Columbia. The AGs backed requiring applicants to certify robocall mitigation compliance or Stir/Shaken implementation and rejecting or revoking authorization if the applicant or holder is found to originate or transmit illegal robocalls. These "reasonable proposals will help curb illegal robocallers’ ability to misuse our nation’s limited numbering resources and circumvent the protections of the Stir/Shaken call authentication framework," they said. Requiring VoIP providers to adhere to state requirements is "reasonable and helps to ensure a competitive market while imposing safeguards on limited numbering resources," said the Michigan Public Service Commission. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission backed the 30-day notice for growth requests, and said it's the "only real means for state commissions to have a true sense of the entire universe of entities obtaining finite numbering resources." Allow state commissions to "assist the FCC and the Numbering Administrator to effectively oversee the use of numbering resources," said NARUC. Close "any perceived loopholes" in access stimulation rules, said Verizon, such as amending commission rules to qualify VoIP providers as access stimulators if they engage in such behavior. Verizon backed similar changes to the definitions of "end user" and "end office" that AT&T sought. Focus on "directly addressing any gaps in its existing frameworks" and avoid "imposing unnecessary, confusing, and/or duplicative requirements," said USTelecom. Don't adopt "new one-off rules that would apply uniquely to subsets of providers," said NTCA. The proposals "will make the robocalling problem worse," said RingCentral, Telnyx and Vonage. They "are neither necessary nor technologically neutral," said NCTA, which Microsoft and Lumen echoed. The "single most effective step" the FCC can take is a "targeted acceleration of the Stir/Shaken implementation deadline for those providers most likely to originate illegal robocalls," NCTA said.