FCC Mandates STIR/SHAKEN Implementation by June 2021

Extension Proposed for Small Providers

On Tuesday, the FCC mandated that all originating and terminating voice service providers implement STIR/SHAKEN in the Internet Protocol (IP) portions of their networks by June 30, 2021. STIR/SHAKEN enables voice service providers to verify that the caller ID information transmitted with a call matches the caller’s phone number.

This FCC action is in accordance with the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (TRACED Act), which was signed into law in December 2019. The law intends to help ease the onslaught of illegal and unwanted robocalls and spoofed calls we all receive daily. The Act includes requirements for the caller authentication protocol STIR/SHAKEN, suspected robocall and spoofed call blocking, tracing the origin of suspected spoofed and illegal robocalls, one-ring scam mitigation requirements and implementation of anti-robocall best practices for carriers that provide service to hospitals, which are the most recent victims of robocall/spoofing scams.

To fulfill the STIR/SHAKEN obligation, no later than June 30, 2021, a voice service provider shall:   

  1. Authenticate and verify caller identification information for all SIP calls that exclusively transit its own network;
  2. Authenticate caller identification information for all SIP calls it originates and that will exchange with another voice service provider or intermediate provider and, to the extent technically feasible, transmit that call with caller ID authentication information to the next voice service provider or intermediate provider in the call path; and
  3. Verify caller identification information for all SIP calls it receives from another voice service provider or intermediate provider which it will terminate and for which the caller identification information has been authenticated.

Small Providers’ Extension
The Order also includes a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM), consistent with the TRACED Act, in which the FCC is seeking comment on extending the STIR/SHAKEN implementation mandate for small providers to June 30, 2022. Small provider is defined as a provider that has 100,000 or fewer voice service subscriber lines (counting the total of all business and residential fixed subscriber lines and mobile phones and aggregated over all of the provider’s affiliates).

During the period of extension, the small providers would be required to implement an appropriate robocall mitigation program to prevent unlawful robocalls from originating on their network. The FCC is also seeking comment on the requirements to adopt for the robocall mitigation program. Comments on the STIR/SHAKEN FNPRM are due May 15, 2020, with reply comments due May 29.

JSI will continue to monitor the FCC’s actions on the small provider extension and ongoing robocall mitigation program, as well as other proposed rules under the Order. If you subscribe to JSI’s LNP Essentials Bundle, we’ll be discussing the details and latest news on this Order on the April 22nd LNP Essentials Interactive Call.

For more information on the Order, the TRACED Act’s robocall mitigation efforts, or the LNP Essentials Bundle, please contact Bridget Alexander White in JSI’s Maryland office at 301-459-7590.