FCC Grants in Part USTelecom Call Blocking Recon
Terminating voice service providers operating IP networks may use session initiation protocol code 603 in addition to SIP codes 607 and 608 to meet the immediate call blocking notification requirement beginning Jan. 1, said an FCC order unanimously adopted last week and released Tuesday (see 2106070051). And a Further NPRM seeks comment on the use of SIP code 603 and whether it should be allowed permanently or for a defined period.
The regulator granted in part several USTelecom-sought requests for reconsideration and clarification. Allowing the use of SIP code 603 “during the finalization of and transition to SIP codes 607 and 608 strikes a reasonable balance between ensuring that voice service providers have the technical ability to provide immediate notification to callers and ensuring that callers have a uniform means of receiving such notifications,” the agency said.
The FCC agreed with some commenters that the Jan. 1 implementation deadline for 607 and 608 “appears infeasible” and denied others’ requests for a six-month implementation extension. Voice service providers terminating a call on an IP network were granted a waiver to use 603 beginning Jan. 1 because the rule change may not be published by then. SIP codes notify a caller that their call has been blocked. Code 607 says the person called indicates the call is unwanted, while 608 indicates a call was rejected through analytics. The requested code 603 means a call is declined.
USTelecom got its request for clarification that the immediate notification requirement applies “only to calls blocked pursuant to analytics programs, regardless of whether such blocking is offered on an opt-in or opt-out basis, or at the network level without consumer consent.”
“The FCC’s action was critically important to ensure that voice service providers are able to continue protecting their customers by blocking illegal and unwanted robocalls,” said USTelecom Vice President Policy-Advocacy Josh Bercu in a statement. He noted the group has been “working across both the industry and the calling community on optimal methods to notify calling parties for the rare cases that calls subscribers want to go through are inadvertently blocked alongside illegal or unwanted ones.”
The FCC denied the association's request to allow originating voice service providers to “choose the method by which they notify enterprise callers of a blocked call,” including the flexibility to not provide immediate notification of blocking through the designated SIP codes. Uniformity is “necessary to provide the effective redress that the TRACED Act requires and that legitimate callers need,” the order said, saying the rule doesn’t limit a provider’s ability to use other forms of notification in addition to using 603, 607, and 608. The FCC also turned down a request to exempt voice service providers from the notification requirements if they're temporarily unable to for technical reasons, saying they can instead seek case-by-case waivers.
"Had this order not been issued, as of next month, consumers would start receiving many more of the illegal and unwanted calls that phone companies are currently blocking," emailed National Consumer Law Center Senior Attorney Margot Freeman Saunders: "We are grateful the commission acted to protect consumers in this way."
The FNPRM seeks comment on whether and how to transition from 603 to 607 and 608. The item asks whether 603 provides “adequate information” to callers and if phasing it out has potential benefits or burdens on small businesses. The FNPRM seeks comment on implementation deadlines. Comments will be due 30 days after Federal Register publication, 45 days for replies, in docket 17-59.