WTA Shares Concerns On SHAKEN/STIR Acceleration

On July 9, WTA filed comments in response to the FCC’s Third FNPRM on robocalls mitigation. The FNPRM proposes to accelerate by a year the implementation of the STIR/SHAKEN caller ID authentication framework by certain small voice service providers deemed to be at heightened risk of originating significant amounts of illegal robocalls. WTA does not believe any of its member companies are the target of this proposal, but remains concerned that the acceleration proposal is premature, the criteria for predicting “heightened risk” may ensnare wholly innocent RLECs and other small providers, and the threat of a potential one-year acceleration of STIR/SHAKEN implementation creates investment uncertainties at a time when RLECs and other small carriers need to focus their resources on the extension and upgrades of their broadband networks as rapidly as possible.