The Federal Communications Commission’s (“FCC” or “Commission”) has released its Eighth Call Blocking Report and Order (“R&O”). As delineated in our Client Advisory of February 7, 2025, the R&O contains two new rules that will go into effect within the next few months: (1) all voice service providers (“VSPs”) will be required to block suspicious calls based on a reasonable do-not-originate (“DNO”) list; and (2) VSPs that block calls based on analytics must use Session Initiation Protocol (“SIP”) code 603+ to notify callers whose calls are blocked.
All VSPs will be required to block calls that are likely to be illegal based on a “reasonable DNO” 90 days after the R&O is published in the Federal Register. The FCC declined to define the scope of a reasonable DNO, stating only that such a list could include “only invalid, unallocated, and unused numbers, as well as numbers for which the subscriber has requested blocking.”
The R&O also requires all VSPs that block calls on Internet Protocol (“IP”) networks based on reasonable analytics, but not a DNO list, use the 603+ SIP code to transmit an appropriate response code to the caller. The effective date for this rule is 12 months after publication in the Federal Register.
The CommLaw Group Can Help!
The CommLaw Group is happy to advise on best practices for robocall mitigation and STIR/SHAKEN compliance. Due to the FCC’s rapidly changing robocall mitigation rules and policies, it is critical that VSPs stay informed of all aspects of the moving target. Accordingly, if you would like additional regulatory updates tailored to the needs of your company, please contact one of our attorneys below, who will gladly provide additional information on signing up for these updates.
CONTACT US NOW, WE ARE STANDING BY TO GUIDE YOUR COMPANY’S COMPLIANCE EFFORTS
Michael Donahue — Tel: 703-714-1319 / E-mail: mpd@CommLawGroup.com
Susan Duarte – Tel: 703-714-1300 / E-mail: sfd@CommLawGroup.com
Rob Jackson – Tel: 703-714-1316 / E-mail: rhj@CommLawGroup.com
Ron Quirk – Tel: 703-714-1305 / E-mail: req@CommLawGroup.com
Diana James – Tel: 703-663-6757 / E-mail: daj@CommLawGroup.com
