Insights

Reports, Regulation and RealNumber DNO – Are You Up to Date on FCC Mandates?

Sep 28, 2023

Illegal calls and robocalls have become a pervasive nuisance, inundating consumers' phones with unwanted and often fraudulent solicitations. In their continued stand against spoofers, spammers and fraudsters, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took decisive action through a series of recent initiatives, including the Seventh Report and Order, Eighth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, and Third Notice of Inquiry.

Specifically, the FCC imposed additional, compulsory mandates on carriers. These included a requirement to know your upstream provider (so that carriers can identify where their traffic is coming from) as well as a requirement to comply with tracebacks requests within 24-hours. The FCC also opened an Eighth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) that considers additional safeguards.

Of the many new proposed requirements, perhaps one of the most significant developments from the FNPRM was a proposal to expand call-blocking requirements beyond Gateway Providers, that, if adopted, would require ALL carriers  (e.g. not just the Gateway Providers) to block any calls thought to be illegal or otherwise fraudulent. 

To support this requirement, the FCC proposed the use of Do Not Originate (DNO) lists. To help protect the integrity of voice communications, Gateway Providers were previously specifically required to refer to a "reasonable" DNO list when routing calls to help protect the integrity of voice communications. Moving forward, the FCC has imposed a requirement on originating messaging providers to refer to a “reasonable” DNO list when originating text messages. 

In addition to expanding call-blocking requirements, FNPRM also sought public comment on additional measures to fortify call-blocking solutions, restore caller ID trust and hold voice service providers accountable for illegal traffic. 

Among the comments received regarding the FNPRM and Notice of Inquiry, there were several recurring themes, all of which help to further shed light on the challenges being faced by both consumers and service providers. These included:

• The importance of having accurate caller name information. Specifically, commenters emphasized how having access to accurate caller name information can help consumers identify and avoid unwanted calls.
• Support for mandatory call blocking for specific categories of numbers. Most commenters expressed support for mandatory call blocking of numbers on DNO lists and any other invalid, unallocated and unused numbers.
• The need for a comprehensive and reasonable DNO list that includes a wide range of categories of numbers that should never originate a call or otherwise be blocked.

Among the various DNO lists available, one stands out for its credibility – RealNumber DNO.

What makes RealNumber DNO and its robust dataset of over six billion Toll-Free and local 10-digit numbers both an authentic as well as defensible resource? Consider the following:

• With combined data direct from the trusted administrator of the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), the Toll-Free Number Registry (TFNRegistry™) and the TSSRegistry™ (the authoritative registry for text enabled Toll-Free Numbers), RealNumber DNO delivers the largest and most accurate DNO dataset available today for both voice AND text!
• RealNumber DNO provides integration with the TSSRegistry, thus ensuring that any Toll-Free Number NOT in the registry’s dataset is automatically included on RealNumber’s DNO text list. This helps not only protect consumers from receiving texts from Toll-Free Numbers that have not been text enabled, it also helps businesses stay in compliance with recent FCC mandates.
• A formidable percentage of its dataset comes direct from Responsible Organizations (Resp Orgs) and Service Provider Identification Number (SPID) owners who are pre-qualified and registered with the database to enter number intelligence via the system’s secure interface – resulting in more than 3 million customer or carrier set numbers

RealNumber DNO’s dataset includes the Industry Traceback Group’s list of 1,900+ numbers that have been thoroughly vetted and identified as numbers spoofed to facilitate illegal, fraudulent or otherwise malicious traffic.

The battle against fraudulent calls requires a collective effort, and staying aligned with FCC guidelines is a proactive step toward restoring trust in telecom and integrity in voice communications. If you're a provider looking to bolster your defense against fraudulent activity, RealNumber DNO could be a vital tool in your arsenal. Stay proactive, stay compliant and let's combat robocalls together to ensure a seamless and secure communication experience for all!