Service Providers

TRACED Act signed: What is it?

January 17, 2020

In part one of this two-part blog series, REDCOM explores what the TRACED Act is, what it entails, and how it affects Service Providers and their subscribers.

What is the TRACED Act?

The Pallone-Thune TRACED Act, aimed at providing Americans a reprieve from robocalls, is a piece of legislation signed into law in late 2019. Signed by the president and passed with bipartisan support through the legislature, the TRACED Act is the culmination of growing anger from the American public towards the pesky and potentially malicious onslaught of robocalls. While it is not the end all be all to robo and nuisance calls, it grants the FCC more authority and means to combat the issue.

What does the Act entail?

Here is a breakdown of what’s included in the TRACED Act:

  • Increases potential fine amounts and the statute of limitations up to four years for robocall offenses
  • FCC rulemaking required to protect consumers from nuisance calls and texts
  • FCC must report on robocall enforcement and is empowered to propose legislation
  • Timeline for the implementation of STIR/SHAKEN
  • Protects subscribers from being charged for STIR/SHAKEN services
  • Protects carriers  from liability for reasonable mistakes
  • Attorney General must create an interagency task force to oversee the prosecution of offenders
  • Allows the  Justice Department to prosecute perpetrators
  • Requires research to ensure the law works and invested parties are providing feedback
  • FCC must establish a Hospital Robocall Working Group

What does the Act mean for service providers

The main takeaway for carriers, especially smaller providers, is they will now have to play a much larger roll in mitigating robocalls to subscribers. Above all, service providers will, within a reasonable timetable, have to implement the STIR/SHAKEN framework. To see how STIR/SHAKEN works, see our overview here.

STIR/SHAKEN is the sole framework now required by the U.S. Government to protect subscribers from spam calls and spoofing. In part two of this series, REDCOM looks into is STIR/SHAKEN enough? Be sure to subscribe to the REDCOM Newsletter using the form below to get all of our latest posts and see relevant news we share from around the industry.

[Read Part Two]