REGULATORY UPDATE >>
The Wireline Report Comments filed on call blocking By Mary J. Sisak, Partner, Blooston Law (mjs@bloostonlaw.com)
AICC Calls for Support As many of you know, AT&T and Verizon have announced sunsets for their 3G networks. AT&T is calling for a sunset date of Februar y 22, 2022 and Verizon is calling for a sunset of December of 2022—10 months later. Due to the Coronavirus many of our customers have been reluctant to have alarm technicians enter their homes and businesses so that we can upgrade their equipment to make them compatible with newer networks.
On September 29, AICC filed reply comments on the FCC’s Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in CG Docket No. 17-59, in which the FCC seeks further comment on call blocking and call mislabeling procedures to further implement the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (TRACED Act). Specifically, AICC discussed its members’ ongoing issues with call blocking and mislabeling, and their struggles with getting those issues resolved in a smooth and timely fashion. To this end, AICC supported the expansion of redress options for
both blocked and mislabeled calls, advocating for concrete timelines for redress, notifications for callers when calls are blocked or labeled fraud, and also the availability of blocked call lists for consumers. AICC opposed the authorization of blocking based solely on call ID authentication, which AICC believes would lead to an increase in blocked alarm calls, and also the extension of safe harbors to so-called network-based call blocking programs, which would encourage carriers to expand blocking programs that customers may not know about and cannot opt out of.
If your numbers have been incorrectly blocked or mislabeled by AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile, you can repor t the error via the following mechanisms: AT&T: Contact AT&T by phone at 800-3375373 (prompt 1) or via email at dlGFMOBusinessFra@att.com. Contact AT&T’s third par ty analytics company, Hiya, at https://hiyahelp.zendesk. com/hc/en-us/requests/new T-Mobile: Register online with T-Mobile at
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https://www.calltransparency.com. Repor t when a call has been incorrectly blocked or labeled at https://feedback.fosrvt.com/. Verizon: Register with Verizon’s third par ty vendor, Transaction Network Services (TNS), online at https:// voicespamfeedback.com.
In September, an email was sent to all TMA members requesting letters suppor ting the postponement of AT&T’s 3G sunset date to be sent to their senators and representatives. The initial appeal was successful in raising awareness among Members of Congress, but more is needed. AICC, once again, seeks the suppor t of TMA members, especially those headquar tered in one of the following states: AK, AZ, CA, CT, CO, FL, HI, IA, IL, IN, KS, LA, MA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NC, NE, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, V T, WA, WI, or WV. If you are unable to find the emails sent by TMA in either September or October containing the appeal template and Congressional contact information, please contact communications@tma.us for details. Thank you for your suppor t. Together, we can make a difference. Fall 2020 | TMA Dispatch
