Apple and Google team up with FCC to fight robocalls

Remember back in July when we told you that the FCC had called on carriers and device makers to help in the fight against robocalls? You'd be forgiven if you thought nothing would come of the FCC's urging, but the very next day, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said he was ready to lead a "strike force" to help the FCC put an end to the robocall problem. It turns out that strike force is real and it had meeting with the FCC today, kicking off its efforts to make robocalls a thing of the past.

Not only that, but the strike force includes more than 30 technology companies. Reuters reports that companies like AT&T, Verizon, Apple, Google, Comcast, Microsoft, T-Mobile, and Samsung are all part of this team, and Stephenson is indeed chairing it. After preliminary discussions between representative of the companies, they all met with the FCC today to get the ball rolling on a plan of action. They now have until October 19 – two months from today – to come back to the FCC with a concrete plan of action.

It appears that the goal of the group is to implement caller ID standards that would block robocalls from spoofed numbers. That on its own would help slow the number of robocalls, but according to Reuters, the strike force is also considering a "Do Not Originate" list, which would make it easier for carriers to block robocalls originating from outside the US.

So, it would seem that many of the country's largest technology companies have answered the FCC's call to help end robocalls. What their full action plan will look like is unknown at the moment, but it's encouraging to see all of these companies meeting with the FCC and committing to come up with a plan of action nonetheless. Stay tuned.

SOURCE: Reuters