OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC is calling on the country’s telcos to step up and help clamp down on the number of unwanted telemarketing calls plaguing Canadians.
The Commission told telecommunications service providers (TSPs) on Monday that they have 90 days to develop technical solutions to block blatantly illegitimate nuisance calls within their networks by working the CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee (CISC). These calls include those that appear to originate from telephone numbers that (i) match the telephone number of the person being called; (ii) are “spoofed” with a number that is local to the person being called, in the case of an incoming long distance call; or (iii) do not conform to the North American Numbering Plan, such as non-dialable telephone numbers like 000-000-0000.
The Regulator pledged to issue a follow-up decision regarding solutions to address the use of caller ID spoofing shortly.
The CRTC also urged the TSPs to offer call management features, which screen calls on behalf of customers who subscribe to them, similar to email filters. It issued an additional deadline of 180 days to TSPs to update it on the opt-in filtering services that they offer or propose to offer.
The Commission added that it is “prepared to take further action” if telecommunications service providers do not take sufficient measures to protect Canadians against unwanted calls.
“We strive to ensure all Canadians have adequate and reliable protection when using the communication system”, said CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais, in a statement. “In this case, telecommunications service providers are in the best position to develop and implement call management solutions for the millions of Canadians tired of receiving nuisance calls, just as they have done for e-mail and text messaging. We encourage Canadians to contact their service provider to find out what solutions they offer to protect themselves against nuisance calls.”
