December 19, 2019
Background: The Senate today overwhelmingly passed the bipartisan Pallone-Thune TRACED Act, comprehensive legislation to combat illegal robocalls.
The following statement can be attributed to Jonathan Spalter, president and CEO of USTelecom:
“There are three prongs to fighting the illegal robocall epidemic: identifying and shutting down illegal call campaigns through industry traceback and tough federal and state law enforcement; call authentication and verification; and better tools for consumers. Pallone-Thune speeds the rollout of each of these key elements and makes it clear that government and innovators are united against the criminals who scam and spoof consumers. The robocall battle won’t be won overnight, but this landmark bill will supercharge the fight against a determined enemy.
“The bipartisan coalition who responded to the robocall crisis – and stayed at the negotiating table – deserves credit for leading this government response. Help is on the way, in particular, because of the sustained leadership of Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet Chairman John Thune (R-SD) and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA).”
USTelecom leads the Industry Traceback Group (ITG), a collaborative effort of companies from across the wireline, wireless, VoIP and cable industries that actively trace and identify the source of illegal robocalls. The ITG coordinates with voice service providers at all levels within the call path seeking to identify the source of and eliminate illegal robocall traffic. The ITG also coordinates with federal and state law enforcement agencies to identify non-cooperative providers so they can take enforcement action, as appropriate.