47 CFR § 64.6300 - Definitions.

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§ 64.6300 Definitions.

(a) Authenticate caller identification information. The term “authenticate caller identification information” refers to the process by which a voice service provider attests to the accuracy of caller identification information transmitted with a call it originates.

(b) Caller identification information. The term “caller identification information” has the same meaning given the term “caller identification information” in 47 CFR 64.1600(c) as it currently exists or may hereafter be amended.

(c) Foreign voice service provider. The term “foreign voice service provider” refers to any entity providing voice service outside the United States that has the ability to originate voice service that terminates in a point outside that foreign country or terminate voice service that originates from points outside that foreign country.

(d) Gateway provider. The term “gateway provider” means a U.S.-based intermediate provider that receives a call directly from a foreign originating provider or foreign intermediate provider at its U.S.-based facilities before transmitting the call downstream to another U.S.-based provider. For purposes of this paragraph (d):

(1) U.S.-based means that the provider has facilities located in the United States, including a point of presence capable of processing the call; and

(2) Receives a call directly from a provider means the foreign provider directly upstream of the gateway provider in the call path sent the call to the gateway provider, with no providers in-between.

(e) Governance Authority. The term “Governance Authority” refers to the Secure Telephone Identity Governance Authority, the entity that establishes and governs the policies regarding the issuance, management, and revocation of Service Provider Code (SPC) tokens to intermediate providers and voice service providers.

(f) Industry traceback consortium. The term “industry traceback consortium” refers to the consortium that conducts private-led efforts to trace back the origin of suspected unlawful robocalls as selected by the Commission pursuant to § 64.1203.

(g) Intermediate provider. The term “intermediate provider” means any entity that carries or processes traffic that traverses or will traverse the public switched telephone network at any point insofar as that entity neither originates nor terminates that traffic.

(h) Non-facilities-based small voice service provider. The term “non-facilities-based small voice service provider” means a small voice service provider that is offering voice service to end-users solely using connections that are not sold by the provider or its affiliates.

(i) Non-gateway intermediate provider. The term “non-gateway intermediate provider” means any entity that is an intermediate provider as that term is defined by paragraph (g) of this section that is not a gateway provider as that term is defined by paragraph (d) of this section.

(j) Robocall Mitigation Database. The term “Robocall Mitigation Database” refers to a database accessible via the Commission's website that lists all entities that make filings pursuant to § 64.6305(b).

(k) SIP call. The term “SIP call” refers to calls initiated, maintained, and terminated using the Session Initiation Protocol signaling protocol.

(l) SPC token. The term “SPC token” refers to the Service Provider Code token, an authority token validly issued to an intermediate provider or voice service provider that allows the provider to authenticate and verify caller identification information consistent with the STIR/SHAKEN authentication framework in the United States.

(m) STIR/SHAKEN authentication framework. The term “STIR/SHAKEN authentication framework” means the secure telephone identity revisited and signature-based handling of asserted information using tokens standards.

(n) Verify caller identification information. The term “verify caller identification information” refers to the process by which a voice service provider confirms that the caller identification information transmitted with a call it terminates was properly authenticated.

(o) Voice service. The term “voice service”—

(1) Means any service that is interconnected with the public switched telephone network and that furnishes voice communications to an end user using resources from the North American Numbering Plan or any successor to the North American Numbering Plan adopted by the Commission under section 251(e)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended; and

(2) Includes—

(i) Transmissions from a telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other device to a telephone facsimile machine; and

(ii) Without limitation, any service that enables real-time, two-way voice communications, including any service that requires internet Protocol-compatible customer premises equipment and permits out-bound calling, whether or not the service is one-way or two-way voice over internet Protocol.

[85 FR 22043, Apr. 21, 2020, as amended at 85 FR 73394, Nov. 17, 2020; 87 FR 3693, Jan. 25, 2022; 87 FR 42946, July 18, 2022; 88 FR 40117, June 21, 2023]