New FCC rule aims at problem of dropped phone calls in rural areas

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"The Federal Communications Commission issued a rulemaking to ensure that all residents in rural areas receive their phone calls," Bryce Baschuk reports for Bloomberg BNA. "The order requires telephone carriers to retain information about the path a call has taken and other details in order to ascertain the rate of call completion, an FCC spokesman confirmed. The order also prohibits carriers from playing an audible ringing sound to callers even when the call is not actually going through."

An FCC spokesman told Baschuk that "the call data requirements will help the FCC enforce violations of its current call-completion rules. The FCC also issued a further notice of proposed rulemaking to consider possible next steps after the commission receives the call data, among other issues." Acting FCC Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn said in a statement that the order will "enhance the FCC's ability to investigate and crack down on this problem while also taking immediate steps that will improve the performance of long-distance calls to rural America." She said, "It is shocking that in this day and age, long-distance calls to rural Americans all too often are not being completed. This is a serious and unacceptable situation for people living in rural America." (Read more)

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