Action against robocalls: FCC
The US FCC Chairman Ajit Pai wrote the chief executives of major telephone service providers and other companies, demanding they launch a system no later than 2019 to combat billions of “robocalls” and other nuisance calls received monthly by many US consumers.
In May, Pai called on companies to adopt an industry- developed “call authentication system” or standard for the cryptographic signing of telephone calls aimed at ending the use of illegitimate spoofed numbers from the telephone system. Monday’s letters seek answers by Nov. 19 on the status of those efforts.
The letters went to 13 telecom companies. The letters to few firms said they do “not yet have concrete plans to implement a robust call authentication framework,” citing FCC staff.
The authentication framework “digitally validates the handoff of phone calls passing through the complex web of networks, allowing the phone company of the consumer receiving the call to verify that a call is from the person supposedly making it,” the FCC said.
YouMail blocks and tracks robocalls has estimated around 5.1b unwanted calls last month.
The FCC has taken a number of actions to try to deter robocalls or automated, prerecorded calls that regulators have labelled a “scourge.”
“We need call authentication to become a reality — it’s the best way to ensure that consumers can answer their phones with confidence. By this time next year, I expect that consumers will begin to see this on their phones,” Pai said. “I am calling on those falling behind to catch up ... If it does not appear that this system is on track to get up and running next year, then we will take action to make sure that it does.” — Reuters.