The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has taken the next step in the implementation of the reassigned numbers database that it approved in December of 2018. The database “allow callers to determine whether a telephone number has been permanently disconnected after a date certain and therefore is no longer assigned to the party the caller wants to reach.”

In a brief Public Notice released on July 2, 2020, the FCC announced that the required Office of Management and Budget approval had been obtained and that the rules would take effect on July 27, 2020. Specifically, beginning on that date, “voice service providers must maintain records of the most recent date each number was permanently disconnected and must age telephone numbers for at least 45 days after disconnection and before reassignment.” However, “[s]mall business voice service providers have an additional six months, i.e., until January 27, 2021, to comply with the record maintenance rule.”

This is not yet the end of the trail. The Public Notice noted that the FCC “will announce the compliance date for the new rule requiring voice service providers to send information to the Reassigned Numbers Database once the database is established.”

Stay tuned to TCPAWorld for next stage in the process.