At its March 26, 2026 Open meeting the FCC adopted several items of interest to the ILEC Industry. Please note the following:
The Commission adopted a Report and Order (Order), a Direct Final Rule, and a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) designed to strengthen protections for Publicly Funded programs from fraud, waste, and abuse. These enhanced protections would be applicable to the Universal Service Fund, the Telecommunications Relay Services Program, and the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program. The Order adopts rules allowing the Commission to promptly and efficiently exclude or limit bad actors’ participation in Congressionally mandated funding programs. Specifically, the new rules align FCC program management with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Guidelines for Non-procurement Debarment and Suspension, the government-wide standards governing debarment proceedings. The new rules are tailored to accommodate the unique nature and design of the Commission’s programs and will allow the FCC to act more quickly to cut off funds when fraud, waste, and abuse are identified. In addition, the Order creates an FCC specific remedy called a Limited Denial of Participation that empowers the Commission to address less egregious misconduct that warrants restricting participation in Commission programs outside of the suspension and debarment process. The Direct Final Rule that was approved adopts the most up-to-date version of the OMB Guidelines. The FNPRM proposes extending the suspension and debarment rules to additional FCC programs and proposes adoption of a mandatory reporting requirement to assist the FCC in better protecting federal funds.
The Commission also adopted a Report and Order (Order) designed to reduce regulatory burdens to spur network modernization and enhance the ubiquitous nationwide availability of high-speed broadband networks. This issue was addressed in the March 19, 2026 edition of the ICORE Blog. The Order initiates several rule changes to accelerate network modernization while safeguarding public safety. Specifically, the Order eliminates the filing requirements associated with FCC rules related to the statutory network change mandate and further streamlines the rules applicable to technology transitions discontinuance applications under Section 214. The Order grants blanket Section 214(a) authority for carriers to grandfather legacy voice services, lower-speed data telecommunications services, and interconnected VoIP services provisioned over copper wire. In addition, the Order states that federal rules preempt any state or local requirements that, either by law or practice, have the effect of requiring carriers to continue providing legacy voice services in areas where carriers have obtained FCC approval under Section 214(a) to discontinue the legacy services in question.
As part of its ongoing efforts to address illegal robocalls, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) proposing to expand certification and disclosure requirements to all providers that receive telephone numbering resources, directly or indirectly, and to increase visibility into what entities are doing with these numbering resources. The NPRM seeks comment on proposed changes to the Commission’s policies with respect to how assigned numbering resources are used, reported, and resold by service providers. The Commission proposes to further extend the robocall certification requirements to all service providers that receive numbering resources directly from the North American Numbering Plan Administrator and to resellers and proposes additional changes to service provider reporting that would enhance transparency in to whether numbers are resold and how they are used. The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau has found that the majority of its robocall investigations have involved resold numbers. As such, the NPRM proposes a range of solutions to strengthen its numbering requirements and policies, particularly as they relate to resellers.
The Commission also adopted an NPRM to examine the use of offshore call centers run by communications providers regulated by the FCC. This issue was addressed in the March 19, 2026 edition of the ICORE Blog. The NPRM seeks comment on ways to encourage and facilitate the onshoring of call centers and steps that can be taken to improve customer service and data security. Additionally, comment is sought on ways to combat illegal robocall call scams that originate inside foreign call centers and the scope of the FCC’s legal authority in this area. The NPRM seeks input regarding empowering consumers to transfer calls to a U.S. based call center location and requiring that calls involving sensitive information be handled domestically. Further, the NPRM seeks comment on requiring that workers at call centers be proficient in American Standard English and on the idea of requiring the use of bonds or fees to prevent robocalls.
Comments and Reply Comments regarding the NPRMs discussed above will be due after publication of these items in the Federal Register. We will continue to monitor these issues and will provide updates as additional information becomes available.
