The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC or Commission) Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) has released a Public Notice establishing key terms and guidelines for the Commission’s recently-approved Reassigned Numbers Database (Database), which is being built to help prevent companies from calling consumers with reassigned numbers and to protect companies from facing penalties under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The guidelines established include definitions of the various terms the Database will return to users querying it and directions on how to query for a specific phone number a company intends to call. The guidelines also provide further detail on the monetary amount the Database Administrator will be able to charge companies that access it and how funds collected in excess of the Database’s costs will be disposed.
Initially established following the Commission’s release of a Second Report and Order on December 13, 2018, the Reassigned Number Database has been the subject of multiple comment periods and input from the North American Numbering Council (NANC). The key terms and guidelines established in the Commission’s recent Public Notice came out of submissions to the Commission from NANC.
