AG Frosh Urges Phone Carriers to Offer Call-Blocking Technology

FCC rule clarification removes industry claims of "legal barriers" to implement service

Baltimore, MD - Attorney General Brian E. Frosh  called on five major telephone companies to offer call-blocking technology that would enable their customers to prevent unwanted calls.

In a joint letter to the chief executives of AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile and CenturyLink, Frosh and 44 other state attorneys general said a new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rule clarification allows landline and mobile telecommunication service providers to offer the call-blocking service, which is permissible under federal law.

"Every year, our offices are flooded with consumer complaints pleading for a solution to stop intrusive robocalls," the attorneys general wrote. "Your companies are now poised to offer your customers the help they need. We urge you to act without delay."

The FCC rule clarification removes previous claims from the phone carriers that they could not legally implement call-blocking technology.

"Consumers have spoken and now, so has the FCC," said Attorney General Frosh. "Phone companies can help us stop these unwanted, annoying, and sometimes expensive calls."

Call-blocking options already exist for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone service and Android cell phones, and the phone carriers should move quickly to implement and inform their customers of these options, Attorney General Frosh said.

Last September, 39 attorneys general called on the FCC to allow phone companies to utilize call-blocking technologies. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler endorsed the request in late May and the full Commission voted on June 18 to pass the rule clarification.