Media Contact: 
Mike Snyder (202) 418-0997
Michael.Snyder@fcc.gov

For Immediate Release

FCC REPORT FINDS SUBSTANTIAL AVAILABILITY OF 
ROBOCALL BLOCKING TOOLS FOR CONSUMERS
 Voice Service Providers and Third-Party Analytics Companies Say 
Billions of Calls Are Being Blocked
  -- 
WASHINGTON, June 25, 2020—The Federal Communications Commission today issued its 2020 staff report on the availability and effectiveness of call blocking tools offered to consumers.  Surveying data submitted by a variety of commenters, the FCC found that call blocking tools are now substantially available to consumers at no or low cost.  This report is the latest step in the FCC’s ongoing work to protect American consumers from illegal and unwanted calls, the agency’s top consumer protection priority.  

“Tools are available today to help consumers block robocalls, spoofed calls, scam calls, telemarketers, and other unwanted calls,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.  “I am glad to see that this analysis shows that many call blocking tools are available today for free or at little cost to consumers.  We will continue to prioritize the protection of consumers from scams and unwanted robocalls.”

In addition to this report, Chairman Pai announced yesterday that the Commission will consider at its July 16 Open Meeting an Order that would, among other things, give voice service providers a safe harbor from liability for the unintended or inadvertent blocking of calls so long as such action is based upon reasonable analytics indicating that such calls were unwanted and therefore should be blocked.  The proposal would also enable responsible providers to block calls from the bad actor providers that facilitate illegal and unwanted calls.  

Today’s report, entitled “Call Blocking Tools Now Substantially Available to Consumers: Report on Call Blocking,” finds that billions of unwanted calls are now being blocked each year, often at no cost to the consumer.  It also discusses call labeling, another tool that empowers consumers to choose which calls to answer by displaying categories for potentially unwanted or illegal calls such as “spam” or “scam likely” on the caller ID display.

The report notes that commenters indicate there are few instances of false positive blocking (when a potentially wanted call is blocked), and that they are unaware of any instances in which their programs have blocked an emergency call, or a call-back from a Public Safety Access Point to a caller who dialed 911. 

The report also highlights the Commission’s aggressive enforcement action against illegal robocallers, including recent actions against six gateway providers that facilitated COVID-19-related scam robocalls.  In coordination with the FTC, the companies were sent joint letters warning that failure to terminate the offending traffic within 48 hours could result in other voice service providers blocking all their traffic.  The companies complied. 
The report follows the FCC’s 2019 Call Blocking Declaratory Ruling, which authorized voice service providers to block calls, based on reasonable analytics, as a default before they reach consumers.  The 2019 ruling also directed the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau to prepare a report “on the state of deployment of advanced methods and tools to eliminate such calls, including the impact of call blocking on 911 and public safety.” Today’s report meets that responsibility and is intended to assist the Commission and consumers in better understanding how the 2019 Declaratory Ruling’s guidance to service providers is impacting the call blocking tools ecosystem.

To create today’s report, the Commission sought public comment and analyzed that input.  The report relies on a number of sources, including voice service providers and third-party analytics companies that filed comments and letters describing their actions to block and label illegal and unwanted calls.  

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Media Relations: (202) 418-0500 / ASL: (844) 432-2275 / Twitter: @FCC / www.fcc.gov 

This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action.  Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.  See MCI v. FCC, 515 F.2d 385 (D.C. Cir. 1974).