Federal Communications Commission	"FCC  XX-XXX"


STATEMENT OF
 COMMISSIONER GEOFFREY STARKS

Re: 	Call Authentication Trust Anchor, WC Docket No. 17-97.

This item represents another important step in the effort to stop the millions of illegal and unwanted spoofed robocalls placed every day to Americans.  When consumers cannot trust the caller ID information provided, they lose the ability to make informed decisions about whether they want to answer a call.  More than just an annoyance, this can put consumers in peril or subject them to fraud and other harms, especially in critical times like these when we rely so much on our telephones for information and connection with the outside world.
Earlier this year, we implemented several provisions of the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act, including a mandate for voice service providers to implement the STIR/SHAKEN caller ID framework, but only in the internet protocol, or IP portions of their networks.  Today’s item fills a gap by adopting rules for non-IP networks, establishing deadlines for implementation of caller ID authentication capability for providers and services that cannot yet implement the STIR/SHAKEN technology, and requiring robocall mitigation in the interim for all voice service providers.  I am particularly pleased that we recognize the important role that intermediate and terminating voice service providers play in stopping illegal robocalls by prohibiting them from accepting voice traffic from providers that have not filed a certification of compliance with call authentication or robocall mitigation requirements, including foreign service providers.  
With today’s action, the Commission recognizes that we will never be able to fully combat illegal robocalls unless all voice service providers implement call authentication and robocall mitigation in all networks.  I therefore am pleased to support this item, and thank the staff for their work on this proceeding.



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