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Robocall Framework Hobbled by Lack of Adoption, Non-IP Carriers: FCC Submissions

Commenters urge FCC not to further extend robocall deadlines to comply with framework.

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Photo of Sam Feder, represented Neustar, from the law firm of Jenner & Block

WASHINGTON, October 25, 2022 – The effectiveness of the Federal Communications Commission’s robocall framework will not see its full potential until all carriers are captured by the framework, said submissions to the agency, which urged the commission to encourage carriers to move to the internet protocol and to not grant any additional time to adopt the framework for those carriers.

The commission is seeking comments about whether the STIR/SHAKEN – Secure Telephone Identity Revisited and Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using toKENs – framework is effective and if deadline extensions for participation should be afforded to those not currently under the framework.

The framework is designed to combat illegal robocalls and spoof calls, that deliberately falsify the information transmitted to caller ID to disguise their identity to the end user.

The framework allows for authentication and verification of caller ID information for calls carried over the Internet Protocol network. The originating carrier shares what it knows about a caller ID to the terminating provider by signing them with an encrypted attestation level – A, B, and C – that represents whether the provider can confirm the identity of the caller, confirm the phone number, or that the call originated elsewhere.

But submissions to the FCC said the framework is ineffective because some carriers have not adopted a move to the IP network, which the framework requires to communicate attestation levels.

NCTA, TransNexus, Neustar and others weigh in

“Continuing the transition to IP and broadening the adoption of STIR/SHAKEN are essential to the framework’s further success,” read comments submitted by industry association NCTA – the Internet and Television Association.

“This is no fault of the framework,” added voice-over IP company TransNexus in its comment, indicating that the failure results from its ineffective use within the U.S. telephone network, adding the lack of transition to IP has hindered the framework’s widespread adoption.

NCTA further suggested that the commission measure how the lack of progress in the IP transition has and will continue to limit STIR/SHAKEN’s effectiveness in achieving its full intended benefits. Doing so, it claimed, would provide the commission insight into next steps to broaden the impact and adoption of the framework.

Not only does IP adoption hinder its progress, but so does “inconsistent” STIR/SHAKEN implementation among service providers, said telecom analytics company Neustar in its comments. Providers do not appropriately apply attestation.

Neustar, USTelecom, and the American Bankers Association alike indicated concern that some calls are given authentication levels that they are unqualified to receive while others, namely legitimate calls from banks, receive lesser attestations that hinder their business.

“In the most egregious cases, originating providers are using A-level attestations for clearly spoofed calls, which makes it more difficult for analytics tools to separate good calls from bad calls,” said Neustar, urging the FCC to encourage providers to properly apply attestation by following Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions specifications for attestations.

Extensions to abide by framework

By congressional direction, the FCC required providers to implement this technology in their IP networks by June of 2021, except in the case of extensions for applicable parties, namely small businesses that face “undue” burden in adopting the framework.

In May of 2021, the commission unanimously voted to shorten its previous deadline by which small voice service providers must become STIR/SHAKEN compliant. But in December, it ruled that non-facilities-based carriers must abide by the earlier deadline of June 2022 because they originated an “increasing quantity” of illegal robocalls, while facilities-based carriers had the additional year until June 2023 to adopt.

As part of its request for comments, the FCC asked for consideration on implementation of further deadline extensions to applicable parties in adopting the STIR/SHAKEN framework. Commenters agreed almost universally that the effectiveness of the system depends on the widespread adoption of the framework and rejected the possibility of extending the deadline.

Telecommunications company Transaction Network Services argued that the extension should be allowed to expire as planned because the true potential of the framework is only realized when all or virtually all voice service providers utilize it.

Last year, the FCC handed record-setting fines to Texas telemarketers and issued numerous cease-and-desist letters to providers that appeared to be complicit with spoof calling. Earlier this month, the FCC proposed that seven voice service providers be removed from receiving call traffic after violating the STIR/SHAKEN framework. Removing these service providers would require all other providers to ease carrying the offending provider’s traffic.

In September, the FCC requested comments on a proposed rule to apply the framework’s caller ID standards to text messaging.

FCC

Carrier Association Requests Reconsideration of FCC Decision on 911 Outage Notification

The CCA says the FCC order creates burdens on call providers and 911 special facilities.

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Photo of CCA president and CEO Tim Donovan

WASHINGTON, March 21, 2023 – The Competitive Carriers Association is asking the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider a November decision requiring carriers to provide certain network outage notifications within 30 minutes.

The FCC order mandates that originating call providers notify 911 special facilities – such as emergency call centers called public safety answering points – of outages “no later than within 30 minutes of when the outage that potentially affects 911 service is discovered.” The order also required those providers to keep up-to-date contact information for those special facilities in areas they serve.

In a petition on Friday, the CCA is asking for the FCC to review and implement flexibility in that timing. “The significant new requirements that the Commission has imposed on carriers…are likely to be burdensome and counter-productive not only for carriers, but also 911 special facilities,” the CCA said in its application, though it continues to encourage the commission to retain the “as soon as possible” requirement.

“At a minimum, however, the Commission should start the 30-minute timer (and subsequent timers) when actual originating service provider…notification occurs from its vendor or other underlying provider,” the CCA said, adding even then carriers “would face significant difficulty assessing the outage, identifying the appropriate” public safety answering points to notify, and making the required notifications within 30 minutes.

“Therefore, it would be appropriate to deem [originating call providers] compliant if they begin notifying affected PSAPs that an outage exists within the 30- minute timeframe, and continue to notify any PSAPs that the OSPs could not reach before the expiration of the 30-minutes,” the industry association added.

The association said the problem with the decision is it doesn’t account for the “practical difficulty (if not impossibility)” of getting a vendor notification, determining which of the thousands of answering points may be affected by the outage, and making the required notification in that timeframe. It said carriers frequently don’t get outage notifications from 911 solution vendors within 30 minutes.

“The unnecessarily rigid approach in the [order] will often make compliance an impossibility, and otherwise will require carriers to spend critical time and resources on notifications to PSAPs that are not affected by outages, and will subject PSAPs to frequent notifications regarding outages that do not affect them, with limited actionable information given the short deadline,” the CCA added.

The CCA is also requesting that the commission create and maintain a centralized database with information provided by the 911 special facilities. It notes that the FCC order fails to fully take into consideration the burden its approach will place on carriers, especially smaller ones with limited resources, and PSAPs, who are “likely to experience a recurring deluge of requests for updated contact information from numerous carriers subject to this amorphous standard.”

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FCC

FCC Nominee Gigi Sohn Withdraws from Consideration

Sohn was first nominated in October 2021.

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WASHINGTON, March 7, 2023 – The nominee for the fifth commissioner to the Federal Communications Commission withdrew her candidacy in a statement Tuesday, blaming “dark money political groups” for tainting her career.

“Unfortunately, the American people are the real losers here,” Gigi Sohn said in the statement. “The FCC deadlock, now over two years long, will remain so for a long time. As someone who has advocated for my entire career for affordable, accessible broadband for every American, it is ironic that the 2-2 FCC will remain sidelined at the most consequential opportunity for broadband in our lifetimes.”

Just last month, Sohn appeared before the Senate commerce committee for a third time and was lambasted by Republican members as an impartial nominee who has made controversial public statements on race and policing and who alleged gave money to members of the committee while being a nominee.

“When I accepted his nomination over sixteen months ago, I could not have imagined that legions of cable and media industry lobbyists, their bought-and-paid-for surrogates, and dark money political groups with bottomless pockets would distort my over 30-year history as a consumer advocate into an absurd caricature of blatant lies,” Sohn’s statement said. “The unrelenting, dishonest and cruel attacks on my character and my career as an advocate for the public interest have taken an enormous toll on me and my family.”

She appealed to the committee to hurry her to the Senate floor for votes so she can get to work on the FCC’s broadband availability map. She said in her statement that her withdrawal also means the commission won’t have the majority to adopt rules on nondiscriminatory access to broadband and to fix the Universal Service Fund programs.

Sohn was nominated for a second time by President Joe Biden in January.

“I hope the President swiftly nominates an individual who puts the American people first over all other interests,” she added in the statement. “The country deserves nothing less.”

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Broadband Mapping & Data

General Agreement on Broadband Label, But Not on Additional Disclosure Requirements

The FCC is considering additional requirements, but that could be burdensome for small providers.

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Screenshot of speakers at the Federal Communications Bar Association event

WASHINGTON, February 15, 2023 — As the comment deadline approaches for the Federal Communications Commission’s broadband “nutrition label” rule, industry experts are largely supportive of the measure, although some disagree over whether the requirements go too far or not far enough.

The FCC is currently considering whether to add additional requirements — such as cybersecurity data and more comprehensive pricing information about bundled plans — to the labels, which were mandated in November and require that providers list performance metrics, cost and other facts to inform purchasers at all points of sale. Other proposed measures aim to improve accessibility by requiring non-English translations, as well as Braille or a QR code with a tactile indicator. The comment deadline is Thursday.

Further requirements could have negative impacts on both consumers and providers, argued Farhan Chughtai, senior policy counsel at broadband consulting company JSI, at a Feb. 6 Federal Communications Bar Association event.

“You don’t want to make the labels too difficult—that’s going to lead to more consumer confusion,” Chughtai said. He pointed to metrics such as network management, network reliability and cybersecurity as topics that might be “too nuanced” for the labels.

Overly complicated labels risk being treated like terms of service agreements, where many users just skip through them, Chughtai said. “Let’s focus on speed, latency, monthly usage.”

Additional requirements would place a disproportionate burden on smaller, rural providers, he added.

Chughtai also pointed to the “point of sale” disclosure requirements as a potential barrier for small providers.

“For some of the larger providers, that documentation can be automated,” he said. “But when you’re talking about a small carrier in Kentucky that has two or three people that are working, that type of communication… could be troublesome. So again, I think that the commission did strike a good balance, but when it comes to implementation, I think there’s ways to continue to refine this.”

Diana Eisner, vice president of policy and advocacy at industry association USTelecom, agreed with Chughtai, adding that both small and large providers “agree that this point of sale documentation is problematic.”

The FCC should work with industry and consumer groups to continuously fine-tune the label requirements, Chughtai said.

Debate on current version of label

“I think the commission really struck the right balance largely of making sure that consumers can see the information in a snapshot—they’re not overloaded with irrelevant information,” Eisner said.

Consumer advocates are generally excited about the label, said Jonathan Schwantes, senior policy counsel at Consumer Reports. “I think the commission gets it mostly right,” he said.

However, Schwantes voiced concerns about the label’s scope, saying that they were intended to educate consumers in addition to serving as a comparison shopping tool.

“I’m concerned that existing consumers may never see the label unless you’re moving or you decide to change or maybe if you’re lucky enough to have a competing provider,” he said. “Based on the [FCC’s Communications Marketplace] report that came out right at the end of last year, there are still many millions of Americans who only have one choice of broadband provider.”

Schwantes noted that he and several other consumer groups attempted to address this issue by advocating for the labels’ inclusion on monthly service bills, but such a requirement failed to make it into the FCC’s mandate.

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