On September 19, USTelecom — The Broadband Association (USTelecom), a major telecommunications trade organization, sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) expressing its concerns about the proposed enhancements to anti-robocall regulations. USTelecom’s primary contention is that the proposed rules, which aim to extend the do-not-originate (DNO) requirement, could inadvertently block legitimate calls, including emergency communications. The association argues that the current industry practices already effectively block calls from invalid, unallocated, and unused numbers, as well as numbers on the DNO list managed by the USTelecom-led Industry Traceback Group (ITG).

The proposed rules as described in a Fact Sheet would require all providers in a call path to block calls based on a comprehensive DNO list. This list would include unused, unallocated, and invalid numbers, as well as numbers that subscribers have requested to be blocked. Additionally, originating wireless providers would be mandated to block texts from sources identified by the FCC as illegal, and email-to-text services would be allowed only on an opt-in basis. The proposed rules contemplate a fine of $11,000 for providers who fail to take “affirmative, effective measures to prevent new and renewing customers from using its network to originate illegal calls.”

USTelecom highlighted several specific concerns, including the dynamic nature of number assignment, which could lead to the blocking of numbers that were previously unassigned but are now in use by legitimate callers. The association also pointed out the potential issues with emergency call routing, citing real-world experiences where calls with invalid “911” or “988” numbers faced routing challenges.

USTelecom concludes by emphasizing that “flexibility allows providers to adapt to these scenarios in a manner that a broad mandate would not,” urging the FCC to reconsider the proposed rules to avoid unintended consequences that could disrupt legitimate communications.