FCC refers two voice providers for robocall probe (updated)
18/02/2022 24:25
(Adds Bandwidth comment, background)
WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) said on Thursday that voice service providers
Bandwidth Inc BAND.O and Vonage Holding VG.O lost a partial
exemption from standards aimed at stopping robocalls and were
referred for further investigation.
"We will not turn a blind eye to providers that have not
done enough to protect consumers from spoofed robocalls," said
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, saying the FCC had referred
the companies to the commission's Enforcement Bureau.
The FCC is overseeing compliance with provider phone
companies to implement standards designed to help prevent
unwanted phone calls, required by June 2021.
The standards, known as "STIR/SHAKEN", provide a common
information sharing language between networks to verify caller
ID information and help prevent robocalls.
Under a Congressional directive, providers meeting early
implementation goals 2020 were granted some conditional
leniency.
The FCC said Vonage is not verifying caller ID information
for all authenticated calls it receives, as required by FCC
rules.
Vonage did not immediately comment.
Bandwidth said it was an early adopter of the standards "to
prevent robocalling" but acknowledged it still operates "some
legacy equipment that supports a small amount of traffic that
cannot support the STIR/SHAKEN standards at this time."
Bandwidth added it is "working diligently to move this
traffic off of this legacy equipment so we can be fully
compliant with STIR/SHAKEN standards."
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese and
Kenneth Maxwell)
((David.Shepardson@thomsonreuters.com; 2028988324;))