Cybersecurity Policy Report, Robocall Fight Leads FCC to Propose Phone Number Restrictions, (Mar 27, 2026)

By Jeff Williams

The FCC yesterday unanimously adopted a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in WC dockets 26-49, 20-67, 13-97, and 07-243 proposing several changes to its numbering policies to help combat illegal robocalls.

The NPRM seeks comment on a “broad array of solutions to strengthen the Commission’s numbering requirements and policies, particularly relating to resellers that use numbering resources to engage in some of the most extensive illegal robocalling schemes,” Raphael Sznajder, an attorney-adviser in the Wireline Competition Bureau’s Competition Policy Division, said during a Commission meeting.

Specifically, the NPRM proposes to “further extend the Commission’s robocall certification requirements currently applicable to interconnected VoIP providers seeking direct access to numbering resources to all service providers that receive numbering resources directly from the North American Numbering Plan administrator [NANPA] and also to resellers of telephone numbers,” he said.

In addition, Mr. Sznajder said, the item proposes to “modify reporting requirements in the numbering utilization/forecast form to obtain more granular information regarding utilization, better detect irregularities, aid robocall enforcement efforts, and better inform the Commission’s numbering policies” and “restrict numbering resale to only a single level to avoid masking the identifies of the parties in interest that may indeed be responsible for illegal robocalls, as well as the parties with relevant data, both of which take place when there are multiple levels of resale.”

The item also seeks comment on “other changes that could safeguard against abuse of numbering resources and further deter robocalls,” Mr. Sznajder said.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the NPRM would support the agency’s work to curtail illegal robocalls by “making it harder for bad actors to obtain numbering resources. After all, if bad actors can’t get phone numbers, it’s a lot harder for them to generate illegal robocalls.”

The Commission’s goal is to “restore confidence in the nation’s voice networks,” he said. “Americans should be able to answer their phones without fear of being scammed or defrauded. Today’s action moves us closer to that goal, and I look forward to continuing our work, staying ahead of the evolving tactics used by illegal robocallers.”

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said she was “glad to see the Commission fulfill one of its core oversight responsibilities by strengthening safeguards against harmful and illegal robocalls, the number one consumer complaint at the FCC.”

The NRPM proposes “common sense steps that are long overdue,” she said.

With bad actors currently “exploiting gaps in a phone number system that was designed for a simpler time,” Ms. Gomez said, the proposals in the NPRM “would close these gaps by requiring more accountability from every company that touches a phone number and giving regulators and law enforcement a much clearer picture of where numbers are going and who is using them.”

FCC Commissioner Olivia Trusty said that “combatting scams and illegal robocalls requires the Commission to use every tool at its disposal” and that the item adopted today “appropriately seeks comment on actions the FCC can take to better align industry practices with accountability and transparency and to close gaps that bad actors exploit to avoid oversight, both from regulators and the marketplace.”

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