[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 198 (Monday, October 18, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57670-57671]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-22577]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[WC Docket No. 20-68; DA 21-1103; FR ID 50348]


Exemption From Caller ID Authentication Requirements

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) 
provides directions and filing instructions for the implementation 
verification certifications that voice service providers granted an 
exemption from the Commission's caller ID authentication rule must 
file.

DATES: All certifications and associated supporting statements must be 
filed no later than October 4, 2021.

ADDRESSES: All certifications and associated supporting statements must 
be filed electronically in WC Docket No. 20-68, Exemption from Caller 
ID Authentication Requirements, in the Commission's Electronic Comment 
Filing System (ECFS), available at http://www.fcc.gov/ecfs.
    Filers may request that any materials or information submitted to 
the Commission in their certifications be withheld from public 
inspection pursuant to the procedures set forth in section 0.459 of the 
Commission's rules. However, effective March 19, 2020, and until 
further notice, the Commission no longer accepts any hand or messenger 
delivered filings. This is a temporary measure taken to help protect 
the health and safety of individuals, and to mitigate the transmission 
of COVID-19. See FCC Announces Closure of FCC Headquarters Open Window 
and Change in Hand-Delivery Policy, Public Notice, 35 FCC Rcd 2788 
(March 19, 2020), https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-closes-headquarters-open-window-and-changes-hand-delivery-policy.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, please 
contact Alexander Hobbs, Competition Policy Division, Wireline 
Competition Bureau at (202) 418-7433 or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document is a summary of the Bureau's 
Public Notice providing directions and filing instructions for the 
implementation verification certifications that voice service providers 
granted an exemption from the caller ID authentication rule must file, 
in WC Docket No. 20-68, DA 21-1103, released on September 3, 2021. The 
full text of this document is available for public inspection at the 
following internet address: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-21-1103A1.pdf. To request materials in accessible formats for people 
with disabilities (e.g., braille, large print, electronic files, audio 
format, etc.), send an email to [email protected] or call the Consumer & 
Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), or (202) 418-
0432 (TTY).

Synopsis

    When Congress directed the Commission to mandate the implementation 
of STIR/SHAKEN caller ID authentication by June 30, 2021, in the TRACED 
Act, it also required the Commission to grant exemptions from that 
mandate for voice service providers that could demonstrate early 
implementation progress by December 30, 2021. The Commission found that 
the TRACED Act created two exemptions: One for IP networks and one for 
non-IP networks. Under the Commission's application of the TRACED Act, 
to receive the IP network exemption, a voice service provider was 
required to (i) have undertaken the network preparations necessary to 
deploy the STIR/SHAKEN protocols on its network; (ii) have completed 
formal registration (including payment) and testing with the Policy 
Administrator; (iii) have completed the necessary network upgrades to 
at least one network element to enable the authentication and 
verification of caller ID information consistent with the STIR/SHAKEN 
standards; and (iv) asserted that it reasonably foresaw that it would 
have completed all necessary network upgrades to its network 
infrastructure to be able to authenticate and verify caller ID 
information for all SIP calls exchanged with STIR/SHAKEN-enabled 
partners by June 30, 2021.
    The Commission implemented this TRACED Act requirement via a 
certification process and delegated authority to the Wireline 
Competition Bureau (Bureau) to make exemption determinations. Voice 
service providers seeking to qualify for the exemption were obligated 
to submit a certification and supporting statement by December 1, 2020, 
explaining in detail how they met each prong of the exemption sought. 
Because the fourth prong of the IP exemption was based on a voice 
service provider's prediction of its future ability to implement STIR/
SHAKEN, the Commission foreclosed the possibility for abuse of this 
statutory provision and required any voice service provider granted an 
exemption to verify in a second certification, after June 30, 2021, 
that it achieved the implementation goals to which it first certified.
    Seven voice service providers sought exemptions for their IP 
networks. In December 2020, the Bureau found that all seven voice 
service providers--AT&T Service Inc. (AT&T), Bandwidth Inc. 
(Bandwidth), Charter Communications, Inc. (Charter), Comcast Cable 
Communications, LLC (Comcast, Cox Communications, Inc. (Cox), Cellco 
Partnership, d/b/a Verizon Wireless (Verizon Wireless), and Vonage 
Holding Corp. (Vonage)--qualified for

[[Page 57671]]

the exemption on the basis that each certified and offered sufficient 
support to demonstrate satisfaction of all the criteria for an IP 
network exemption. These voice service providers were ``therefore 
exempt from the requirements of section 64.6301 of [the Commission's] 
rules.'' They were nonetheless obligated to file in the Robocall 
Mitigation Database as required by section 64.6305 of the Commission's 
rules and certify to their STIR/SHAKEN implementation status and, as 
appropriate, robocall mitigation efforts.
    Implementation Verification Certification Requirements. In order to 
maintain the exemption from section 64.6301 of the Commission's rules, 
each voice service provider granted an exemption must now ``verify they 
completed full implementation in accordance with their commitments.'' 
An officer of the voice service provider is required to sign the 
certification stating under penalty of perjury that the officer has 
personal knowledge that the company did in fact complete all necessary 
network upgrades to its network infrastructure by June 30, 2021. Each 
voice service provider granted an exemption is required to submit an 
accompanying statement explaining, in detail, how the company achieved 
the implementation goals it first certified to so that the Commission 
can verify the accuracy of the certification. Any voice service 
provider that cannot certify to full implementation will lose the 
exemption and be subject to the general rule requiring full STIR/SHAKEN 
implementation, effective immediately upon release of the Public Notice 
identifying which voice service providers achieved the implementation 
goals to which they previously committed.

Federal Communications Commission.
Pamela Arluk,
Chief, Competition Policy Division.
[FR Doc. 2021-22577 Filed 10-15-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P