FCC STIR/SHAKEN deadline extension petitions denied

Four voice service providers had requested deadline extensions for STIR/SHAKEN deployment. Two have been denied, and two have been withdrawn.

These deadline extension requests were filed in November 2020:

• AT&T had requested a one-year extension.
  • They made a network routing adjustment in mid-2020 to address network congestion during the pandemic. This sent a small portion of their network traffic across a portion of the network that lacks STIR/SHAKEN capability.
  • AT&T withdrew this request on March 29, 2021.
• Lumen had requested a six-month extension.
  • Their software vendors frequently miss deadlines. Lumen thought they could make the deadline, but requested an extension in case they experienced further delays.
  • Lumen withdrew this request on March 29, 2021.
• US Cellular had requested a “reasonable extension of time.”
  • They are migrating CDMA customers to their VoLTE network and requested an extension until this migration is complete.
• Verizon had requested a declaratory ruling or limited extension.
  • A portion of their network, which they call FTTP-SIP, uses fiber-to-the-premises and plain old telephone system (POTS) service.
  • Verizon requested a declaratory ruling on whether the STIR/SHAKEN mandate applies to this portion of their network.
  • If the FCC rules that the STIR/SHAKEN mandate applies, then Verizon requested a three-year extension.

FCC ruling

The Commission issued an order that denied the remaining petitions from US Cellular and Verizon.

In response to US Cellular, the Commission ruled that:

• US Cellular does not face undue hardship.
• The mandate does not require STIR/SHAKEN over non-IP interconnections.
• The mandate does not require providers to complete implementation of IP interconnections by the deadline.

In response to Verizon, the Commission ruled that:

• Verizon does not face undue hardship.
• While Verizon asserts that the upgrades would be costly, it does not claim that they may be prohibitively expensive as those the Commission found justified a class extension for small providers.
• Though Verizon describes this service as “end-of-life,” it is not analogous to section 214 discontinuance because Verizon describes no plan to imminently discontinue the service.

TransNexus solutions

We offer STIR/SHAKEN and robocall mitigation solutions in our ClearIP and NexOSS software platforms. We can make your STIR/SHAKEN deployment a smooth process.

In addition, we help service providers with all aspects of STIR/SHAKEN deployment, including registering with the Policy Administrator and filing their certification with the FCC.

Contact us today to learn more.