A push by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to crack down on robocalls will include 30 tech companies, including: AT&T, Google, Apple, Verizon, Comcast, Nokia, BlackBerry, LG, Qualcomm and Sirius XM.
The “Robocall Strike Force” brings together carriers, device makers, operating system developers, network designers and the government. It will be headed by AT&T Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson, and will report to the commission by Oct 19 on solutions and tools to move the initiative forward.
Robocalls – automated, prerecorded phone calls—have been labeled a “scourge” by regulators who recently requested that phone companies offer customers free options to block robocall “spam.” FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said robocalls are the number one compliant from consumers.
“We have to come out of this with a comprehensive play book for all of us to go execute,” Stephenson said in a meeting with regulators Friday. “We have calls that are perfectly legal, but unwanted, like telemarketers and public opinion surveyors. At the other end of the spectrum, we have millions of calls that are blatantly illegal.”
