Connect with us

FCC

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.

Published

on

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.

Teralyn Whipple, who joined Broadband Breakfast in 2022, studied marketing at Brigham Young University. She has reported extensively on broadband infrastructure, investments and deployment. She has also headed marketing campaigns for several small companies.

Digital Inclusion

Broadband Association Argues Providers Not Engaged in Rollout Discrimination

Trade group says telecoms are not discriminating when they don’t build in financially difficult areas.

Published

on

Image of redlining from historic map of the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation of Richmond, Virginia, from PBS.

WASHINGTON, September 18, 2023 – Broadband association US Telecom sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission last week saying internet service providers don’t build in certain areas because it is financially difficult, not because they are being discriminatory.

The FCC proposed two definitions of digital discrimination in December 2022: The first definition includes practices that, absent technological or economic constraints, produce differential outcomes for individuals based a series of protected characteristics, including income, race, and religion. The second definition is similar but adds discriminatory intent as a necessary factor.

“To make business determinations regarding capital allocation, an ISP must consider a host of commercially important factors, none of which involve discrimination,” said the September 12 letter from USTelecom, which represents providers including AT&T, Verizon, Lumen, Brightspeed, and Altafiber.

“As the Commission has consistently recognized, such deployment is extremely capital-intensive…This deployment process is therefore subject to important constraints related to technical and economic feasibility” added the letter.

US Telecom explained that ISPs’ will choose to invest where they expect to see a return on the time and money they put into building broadband.

The association added that factors like population density, brand reputation, competition and the availability of the providers’ other services all go into deciding where broadband gets deployed.

“The starting point of the Commission’s approach to feasibility should be a realistic acknowledgement that all ISPs must prioritize their resources, even those that invest aggressively in deployment,” added the letter.

The association also highlighted the fact that it hopes to see as little government intervention in broadband deployment activity as possible, a concern that has been echoed by lobbyists before.

“Rather than attempting to use Section 60506 to justify taking extra-statutory intrusive actions that could paradoxically undermine ongoing broadband investment, the Commission must enable ISPs to make decisions based on their own consideration of the kinds of feasibility factors discussed above” read the letter.

Section 60506 of the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act says that the FCC may implement new policies to ensure equal access to broadband.

The FCC is also looking to develop guidelines for handling digital discrimination complaints filed against broadband providers.

USTelecom said that ISPs should be allowed to demonstrate financial and logistical concerns as a rebuttal to those claims, in addition to disclosing other reasons for directing investment elsewhere to demonstrate non-discriminatory practice.

Reasons for investment elsewhere would include rough terrain, low-population density, MTE owners not consenting to deployment, zoning restrictions, or historical preservation review.

“To aid in the success of the Infrastructure Act and facilitate equal access, the Commission must continue to foster an environment conducive to ISP investment in the high-speed broadband infrastructure that Congress rightly views as central to our connected future,” concluded the letter.

Continue Reading

FCC Comments

CAF II Auction Recipients Push FCC to Extend Letter of Credit Waiver, Relax Restrictions

The agency proposed a shorter, more restrictive waiver.

Published

on

Photo of $100 bills

WASHINGTON, September 14, 2023 – Internet service providers who received project funding under the Connect America Fund Phase II Auction are asking the Federal Communications Commission to continue waiving their letter of credit requirements. 

The FCC requested in August comments on a proposal to extend the waiver for one year — through December 2024 from the current December 31, 2023 date — and limit it to providers who have filed all location reports on time and have finished at least 60 percent of the total locations they agreed to build in each state. In 2020 the FCC waived the letter of credit requirements — requiring a cash collateral on agreements for risk assessment — for auction recipients in response to the pandemic, allowing them to comply with the less restrictive Rural Digital Opportunity Fund letter of credit rules. 

Without the waiver, providers would need to secure letters of credit for all support they had previously received, plus the money they are slated to receive in the coming year. The waiver reduces that requirement to a single year of funding if providers build infrastructure at the agreed upon pace.

Auction recipients, through the Connect America Fund Phase II Coalition, pushed back on both conditions in a filing to the FCC dated Monday and asked for a two-year extension on the waiver, citing long-term economic effects of the pandemic and rising interest rates. That would keep the waiver in place until December 31, 2025, the entire remaining build timeline.

The coalition asked for a lighter deployment threshold, 57 percent of a provider’s obligated locations rather than 60. It also pushed the FCC to include providers who have missed a filing deadline in the waiver, calling the “one strike and you’re out” proposal “disproportionate,” the filing said. 

The CAF II auction provided in 2018 nearly $1.5 billion for providers to build out network infrastructure in areas that are expensive to serve. Recipients of funds under the auction are not required to provide broadband speeds, with a minimum requirement of 10 Mbps upload and 1 Mbps upload.

RDOF, which concluded a similar reverse auction in 2020, has allocated over $9 billion for the same purpose, with up to $11.2 million available for a second phase. 

Future auctions are in jeopardy, though, as providers defaulted on nearly $3 billion of the initial award. Those that have not defaulted are pressing the FCC for more funding.

More than 300 people in the broadband industry asked the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to remove the requirement for the upcoming $42.5 billion BEAD grant program, arguing it prevents smaller providers with less capital on hand from participating.

Continue Reading

FCC

Senate Approves Anna Gomez as Fifth Federal Communications Commissioner

The Democrat-held Senate voted 55-43 in favor of Biden’s second nominee for the spot, after Gigi Sohn withdrew.

Published

on

Photo from the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators.

WASHINGTON, September 7, 2023 – The Senate voted Thursday to approve Anna Gomez as the fifth commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, finally completing the panel and breaking the party deadlock in favor of the Democrats. 

The Democrat-held Senate voted 55-43 in favor of President Joe Biden’s May nomination

The vote breaks the almost two-and-a-half year delay in filling the last commissioner seat after the FCC was stuck in a deadlock. 

Gigi Sohn, an internet advocate and co-founder of Public Knowledge, was originally nominated for the fifth commissioner in October 2021, but stepped down earlier this year, citing “dark money political groups” tainting her career. She had been in front of the Senate commerce committee three times about her nomination, with Republicans accusing her of being partial on the relevant issues. 

“Congratulations to Anna Gomez on her confirmation by the United States Senate,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. “Anna brings with her a wealth of telecommunications experience, a substantial record of public service, and a history of working to ensure the United States stays on the cutting edge of keeping us all connected. 

“Her international expertise will be a real asset to the agency. I look forward to working with her to advance the agency’s mission to ensure the benefits of modern communications reach everyone, everywhere and that the United States can continue to lead in the digital age,” Rosenworcel added. 

Positive comments poured from organizations including Free Press Action, America’s Communication Association, and Competitive Carriers Association. 

“CCA is enthusiastic about collaborating with Commissioner Gomez and a full Commission to address the evolving challenges and opportunities in the rapidly changing wireless landscape” said CCA president and CEO Tim Donovan in a statement. 

Chris Lewis, CEO of Public Knowledge, offered his congratulations to the new commissioner. “We are excited for the diversity and experience Ms. Gomez brings to the agency.” 

Gomez served as a senior advisor for international information and communications policy in the State Department’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy. She served as the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Deputy Administrator from 2009 to 2013 and spent over a decade in various positions at the FCC.  

Current commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Brendan Carr were also nominated by Biden in May but have yet to get Senate votes. Starks must be voted in before the end of the year or he must resign; Carr can serve throughout 2024 without reconfirmation. 

Continue Reading

Signup for Broadband Breakfast News



Broadband Breakfast Research Partner

Trending