FCC Threatens to Block Phone Carriers if Robocalls Aren’t Addressed

Phone carriers R Squared and Tellza are officially on notice from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for facilitating illegal robocalls.

The FCC sent letters to both companies on Tuesday telling them to “cease transmitting such traffic immediately and take steps to prevent your network from continuing to be a source of apparently illegal robocalls,” or face being blocked from phone networks.

The letter to Tellza accuses the company of enabling fraud, with imposters allegedly using the carrier to call consumers pretending to be utility companies and Apple customer service reps. The agency accuses R Squared of allowing imposters to allegedly peddle auto warranty and credit card rate reduction scams. Both letters list numerous examples from the early months of 2021.

If you received a call featuring a prerecorded voice or a text message from a company and you did NOT provide that company prior express written consent to do so, you may have a claim against that company for violating the TCPA. Find out more here.

R Squared was one of 16 companies that received a letter from the FCC last year threatening legal action if the company continued to allow foreign-based robocalls, according to Law360.

Tuesday’s letters to Tellza and R Squared said that the agency would block all of the companies’ traffic through downstream voice service providers if the companies did not take steps to “effectively mitigate illegal traffic” within 48 hours, or failed to inform the Commission and the Traceback Consortium of the steps taken within 14 days.

The agency ordered the companies to: “Implement effective safeguards to prevent customers from using your network as a platform to originate illegal calls.”

Within the 48-hour deadline, both of the providers told the FCC they had stopped carrying the “offending traffic” and laid out plans to stop illegal robocalls on the networks in future, reports Law360.

The FCC also asked phone carriers and app developers more broadly to address robocalls by offering free call blocking tools.

In a statement to Law360, FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said that taken together, the actions should signal that the FCC took robocall crackdowns very seriously and it was willing to use multiple avenues to prevent unwanted calls.

“No one wants more unwanted robocalls in their life. I’m proud that we continue to find new ways to use all the tools at our disposal to make it clear to illegal robocallers that their days are numbered,” she said. “We want them to know that we’re advocating on behalf of consumers everywhere to put an end to these calls.”

The FCC is currently collecting details on robocall blocking efforts from carriers for its second annual staff report on call-blocking, according to Law360, with carriers having to answer how the pandemic changed or delayed call blocking plans. Responses are due by April 30.

Companies often find themselves in hot water over unwanted robocalls. 

In March, Georgia woman Rita Brownlee filed a nationwide class action lawsuit against Allstate Insurance, alleging that the insurance agency violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) when it repeatedly called her in 2020. 

Earlier in the year, Credit.com was hit with a class action lawsuit for also allegedly violating the TCPA by giving out contact information to third parties without consent. The company is being accused of using third party businesses to market services, ultimately harassing customers with unwanted calls and voicemails.

Have you been on the receiving end of unwanted robocalls? Let us know in the comments section!

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• All Cell Phone Calls Need Consent Before Recording, California Supreme Court Rules
• Do You Qualify: Robocalls, Unwanted Phone Calls & Text Messages Class Action Lawsuit Investigation
• Robocallers Dodge TCPA Class Action Despite Criminal Charges
• Do Not Call List TCPA Violations Class Action Lawsuit Investigation