Congressman Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green) joined his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives in passing legislation this evening to improve call quality in rural communities. The bill, H.R. 2566, the Improving Rural Call Quality and Reliability Act, requires intermediate providers to comply with service quality standards set by the FCC. Rural call quality is often poor due to inconsistency with ‘least cost routers’ that are not subject to the minimum FCC standards. The bill also establishes a public registry which increases transparency and accountability for least cost routers.
“Rural communities are often subjected to telephone service that is of poor quality with dropped calls, false ringing, and white noise making it difficult for users,” said Latta. “These problems are caused by intermediate providers, not local phone companies, and often make it more troublesome for those living in rural areas to conduct business. Even worse, inconsistent call reliability is potentially dangerous in life threatening and emergency situations. H.R. 2566 fixes the issues associated with least cost routing and brings rural call quality in line with FCC standards.”
Latta participated in an Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on the legislation in September with Lance Miller, President of the McClure Telephone Company in McClure, Ohio.
In addition to H.R. 2566, the House also passed H.R. 2669, the Anti-Spoofing Act. The legislation takes aim at those committing phone scams targeting vulnerable populations. Scammers will often disguise their phone number on caller ID in order to trick unsuspecting victims. While this has been made illegal through the Truth in Caller ID Act, H.R. 2669 expands the law to include banning this practice through text messaging as well.
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