On November 18, 2022, the FCC published in the Federal Register notice that the Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) had approved the gateway provider DNO-based blocking requirement, which was adopted in the July 2022 Report and Order: As of December 19, 2022, gateway providers will be required to block any calls purporting to originate from a number on a reasonable do-not-originate (“DNO”) list (47 CFR § 64.1200(o)).
- A “gateway provider” is defined as “a U.S.-based intermediate provider that receives a call directly from a foreign originating provider or foreign intermediate provider at its U.S.-based facilities before transmitting the call downstream to another U.S.- based provider.” This classification was adopted on a call-by-call basis.
- Under this rule, the FCC declines to mandate use of a specific DNO list and requires gateway providers to use at least one DNO list – implemented at the gateway – so long as the list is reasonable. Note the FCC expressly declined to deem gateway providers in compliance with this requirement if they have implemented a reasonable DNO in some parts of their network but not at the gateway.
- A “reasonable” DNO list may include only invalid, unallocated, and unused numbers, as well as numbers for which the subscriber to the number has requested blocking.
- Gateway providers may choose a list that works best for their networks, which may be managed by the gateway provider or a third party. For instance, the FCC recognizes that the current DNO Registry list maintained by the Industry Traceback Group is reasonable (but further recognizes that since the FCC does not manage the list, this status could change in the future).
- As a reminder, gateway providers must not block emergency calls to 911 and must make all reasonable efforts to ensure that calls from public safety answering points and government emergency numbers are not blocked.
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