The Federal Communications Commission announced on September 21, 2004, a 15-day safe harbor period for telemarketers to remove from their calling lists landline telephone numbers that recently have been switched to wireless phones. The decision is a plus for telemarketers who were worried that because they could not update their calling lists immediately, they could still run afoul of the FCC.
The FCC bans all automated-dialer calls – including live and prerecorded calls – made to wireless phones, and telemarketers were concerned about landline phones being switched to wireless without their knowledge. Under the order, the FCC will not penalize telemarketers for placing automated-dialer calls to such numbers within the grace period.
A database of landline numbers that have been ported to wireless has been available since May and the FCC originally said that telemarketers could be fined regardless of technical difficulties in complying with the rule.
“Given the limited duration of this safe harbor period and the fact that consumers may continue to avail themselves of the national and company-specific do-not-call lists, we do not believe that this action will unduly infringe consumer privacy interests, which is consistent with congressional intent,” the FCC said.
The FCC has hired NeuStar, Inc. to maintain the national database of ported numbers, which is available by subscription to the public. The 15-day safe harbor period will run from the time the port has been completed and the number appears in Neustar's database as a wireless number.
Significance: The FCC's order is a welcome concession to reasonableness for telemarketers, who must contend with national and state do-not-call lists as well as myriad other federal and state laws that govern the industry.