Seven Phone Companies Must Adopt Anti-Robocall Technology by Monday or FCC will Block their Calls

By Yehudit Garmaise

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will block calls from phone service providers that have not taken significant action to fight illegal robocalls by Monday Oct. 10.

On Sept. 26, the FCC announced that phone service providers had just two more weeks to fully implement STIR/SHAKEN anti-robocall protocols that were supposed to be adopted a year and a half ago.

In 2020, the FCC approved the rules that began to force all voice service providers to verify the authenticity of incoming calls.

By June 2021, which was the FCC’s deadline, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, the three major US carriers, had fully implemented the new technology.

Finally, the FCC is going after non-compliant carriers such as: Akabis, Cloud4, Global UC, Horizon Technology Group, Morse Communications, Sharon Telephone Company, and SW Arkansas Telecommunications and Technology.

“These providers have fallen woefully short and have now put at risk their continued participation in the U.S. communications system,” said Loyaan A. Egal, the FCC’s acting chief of the enforcement standards, “While we’ll review their responses, we will not accept superficial gestures given the gravity of what is at stake.”

In two weeks, the phone service companies that are compliant with the FCC’s anti-robocall procedures will be forced to block the calls that come through the services that have not yet fully implemented the FCC’s protocols.

“This is a new era,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said. “If a provider doesn’t meet its obligations under the law, it now faces expulsion from America’s phone networks. Fines alone aren’t enough.”

“Providers that don’t follow our rules and make it easy to scam consumers will now face swift consequences.”