AT&T Will Head Up Anti-Robocall Task Force

Spurred by a directive from the FCC last week, AT&T will head up a new anti-robocall task force that will work to develop tools and technology to help users and carriers block robocalls.
The chairman of the FCC sent a letter to all of the major wireless and wireline carriers last week instructing them to start providing customers with tools to block robocalls. The letter tells carriers to work on free tools and to get them to customers as soon as possible.
“In regard to the Commission’s expectations that carriers respond to consumers’ blocking requests, I have sent letters to the CEOs of major wireless and wireline phone companies calling on them to offer call-blocking services to their customers now – at no cost to you,” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said in a blog post Friday.
In response, AT&T has said that it will step up and lead a new coalition that will work “to accelerate the development and adoption of new tools and solutions to abate the proliferation of robocalls”. AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson said will chair the new Robocall Strike Force, the company said Monday.
“To effectively stem the tide of these calls, the communications industry – network providers, handset makers and device OS developers alike – must work together to ensure that only calls from legitimate callers and those associated with legitimate and unaltered numbers are sent to consumer phones,” AT&T Senior Vice President-Federal Regulatory Bob Quinn said in a post.
“For these reasons, and at the request of Chairman Wheeler, Mr. Stephenson has agreed to chair a new Robocalling Strike Force, the mission of which will be to accelerate the development and adoption of new tools and solutions to abate the proliferation of robocalls and to make recommendations to the FCC on the role government can play in this battle.”
Quinn also said that the company work on anti-caller ID spoofing technology and conform to standards from the IETF and ATIS on VoIP caller ID verification.