Robotext Order Expected to Be OK'd With Some Changes Proposed by Industry

FCC commissioners are expected to approve a robotexting order and Further NPRM, scheduled for a vote Thursday, though with a few tweaks addressing issues raised by CTIA and others, FCC and industry officials said. Commissioners OK'd a second wireless item, incorporating into agency rules four new and updated standards for equipment testing. That item, which was deleted from the agenda for the meeting, hasn’t been controversial.

The draft robotexting order proposes to require mobile wireless providers to block text messages from numbers on a “Do Not Originate (DNO) list, which includes numbers that purport to be from invalid, unallocated, or unused North American Numbering Plan numbers, and numbers for which the subscriber to the number has requested that texts purporting to originate from that number be blocked.” Carriers would also be required establish “a single point of contact for texters to report erroneously blocked texts.” Proposed steps are modeled on rules for voice calls (see 2302230059).

CTIA, which previously raised concerns on the draft robotexting order (see 2303080034), reported on calls between President Meredith Baker and Commissioners Brendan Carr, Geoffrey Starks and Nathan Simington. “Unfortunately, the Draft Order targets number spoofing -- an issue in the robocall context that is not similarly an issue in robotexts -- and risks confusion for consumers, a diversion of resources from industry-government collaboration, and significant implementation challenges,” CTIA said in a Friday filing in docket 21-402.

CTIA also sought “targeted revisions” in line with the earlier advocacy. “Align the blocking rule with the existing robocall blocking rule for gateway providers,” CTIA said: “Any blocking rule should avoid imposing a mandate with an absolute blocking standard that the Commission previously recognized would be unattainable in the gateway provider context.” The proposed single point of contact rule “does not reflect that multiple parties -- mobile wireless providers, cloud-based providers, aggregators, and others in the messaging ecosystem -- are involved in message delivery and message blocking,” the group said.

The effective date should provide the time needed for providers to comply, the CTIA said, noting the draft omits the OMB review process “the Commission followed for the mandatory gateway provider blocking rule.” The Competitive Carriers Association similarly raised timing concerns for smaller carriers (see 2303100062). CTIA also urged the FCC to retain classification of message under Title I of the Communications Act: “Reliance on Title II and Section 251(e) triggers questions regarding the classification of messaging as an information service and the scope of the Commission’s numbering authority.”

The Coalition for Open Messaging State Voices, meanwhile, which represents groups that use text messaging to reach the public, urged the FCC to change the rules to create more objective standards for blocking messages. The group spoke with aides to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and staff from the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, said a filing posted Friday. “The provider should not have the ultimate discretion that involves using its subjective criteria to determine which texted messages are blocked, but rather there should be a specific basis under the Commission’s rules, regulations, and orders for the provider to justify blocking a text message,” the coalition said.

In a filing posted Monday, CTIA countered part of the coalition’s arguments. “Open Messaging urges the Commission to bar wireless providers from blocking ‘texts that do not violate the Commission’s rules, regulations, and orders,’” the wireless association said: “If adopted, the proposals would expose consumers to more harmful text spam, undermining the Commission’s consumer-protection goals.”

Financial services groups asked the FCC to incorporate language requiring carriers to provide a link for text-blocking error complaints. “The ability to seek redress from mandatory (or voluntary blocking) would be further enhanced by … requiring mobile wireless providers to include on their website not only the required contact point, but also a link where text senders can obtain information on the mobile wireless provider’s blocking notification process and protocol,” said ACA International, the American Financial Services Association, Credit Union National Association and the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions.

The Professional Associations for Customer Engagement (PACE) also raised concerns. “The current DNO framework does not address the procedure for reassigned or reallocated numbers,” PACE said: “Texts from a reassigned or reallocated number on a DNO list will still be blocked even where the number is reassigned or reallocated to a new subscriber who may not be sending a highly likely to be illegal text. Even more concerning, the new subscriber … may not be aware that the number was previously placed on a DNO list.”

The order approved before the meeting updates FCC rules to incorporate “four new and updated standards that are integral to equipment testing,” all from ANSI or the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).