- The National Association of Attorneys General (“NAAG”) sent a comment letter to the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) in support of the FTC’s Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking under the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (“TRACED Act”), urging the FCC to move up the deadline for certain smaller telephone companies to implement mandated anti-robocall ID technology.
- The comment letter, which was signed by 51 AGs, notes that under the TRACED Act, all telephone companies are required to implement caller ID authentication technology, known as STIR/SHAKEN technology, on their networks to help ensure that calls originate from verified, non-spoofed numbers. While large companies were required to implement the technology by June 2021, smaller phone companies with 100,000 voice subscriber lines or fewer were given an extension until June 2023. But the FCC found that some of the smaller companies given the extension were responsible for the origination or facilitation of high volumes of illegal robocalls, accounting for over 95% of likely robocalls in the United States.
- The letter supports the FCC’s proposed rulemaking that will require smaller telephone companies responsible for the origination or facilitations of high volumes of calls to implement the STIR/SHAKEN technology by June 30, 2022.