On November 16, 2023, the FCC released a Report and Order (“R&O”) adopting rules to implement the Safe Connections Act of 2022 and improve access and affordability to communications services for survivors of domestic abuse and related crimes. The R&O was adopted at the November Open Meeting.
The R&O adopts the following:
- Definition of “Covered Provider”: A provider of a private mobile service or commercial mobile service, including both facilities-based mobile network operators and resellers/mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). To the extent that an MVNO relies upon an underlying facilities-based provider to effectuate line separations, the MVNO should fulfill its obligations through its contractual relationship with the underlying facilities-based provider, and may satisfy its obligations by utilizing the same procedures and processes the facilities-based provider makes available to its own customers. In addition, this term includes a provider of mobile broadband-only or mobile text service that does not also offer mobile voice service, if such provider assigns a telephone number to a device.
- Survivor Line Separation Requests: The FCC mandates that, for a shared mobile service contract under which a survivor and abuser each use a line, a covered provider must, not later than two business days after receiving a completed line separation request from a survivor, (1) separate the line(s) of the survivor, and the line(s) of any individual in the care of the survivor, from the shared mobile service contract, or (2) separate the line(s) of the abuser from the shared mobile service contract.
- A “shared mobile service contract” is defined as a mobile service contract for an account that includes not less than two lines of service and does not include enterprise services offered by a covered provider. A “line of service” under a shared mobile service contract is one that is associated with a telephone number, even if that line of service does not include voice services, and includes all of the mobile services associated with that line under the shared mobile service contract, regardless of classification, including voice, text, and data services.
- In complying with this requirement, providers must offer certain information to survivors, authenticate the survivor’s identity, take steps to prevent abusers from interfering, and provide employee training and consumer notices, among other things.
- Providers may not make line separation requests contingent on: (1) payment of a fee, penalty, or other charge; (2) maintaining contractual or billing responsibility of a separated line with the provider; (3) approval of separation by the primary account holder, if the primary account holder is not the survivor; (4) a prohibition or limitation, including payment of a fee, penalty, or other charge, on number portability, provided such portability is technically feasible, or a request to change phone numbers; (5) a prohibition or limitation on the separation of lines as a result of arrears accrued by the account; (6) an increase in the rate charged for the mobile service plan of the primary account holder with respect to service on any remaining line or lines; or (7) any other requirement or limitation not specifically permitted by the SCA.
- Compliance: Covered providers are required to comply with the rules six months after the effective date of the Order or after review of the rules by OMB, whichever is later. Small providers, defined as providers with 100,000 or fewer voice service subscriber lines, are required to comply 18 months from the date of publication in the Federal Register.
- Protect the Privacy of Calls and Text Messages to Covered Hotlines: The FCC requires covered providers and wireline providers of voice service to exclude from consumer-facing logs of calls or text messages any records of calls or text messages to covered hotlines that appear in a central database (discussed further below), and to retain internal records of the omitted calls and text messages. The FCC will be establishing a central database to provide certainty to providers about which calls/logs should be suppressed.
- Compliance: The FCC adopts a 12-month compliance deadline for non-small providers per the below conditions, and delegates responsibility for implementing this deadline to the Bureau, which includes the ability to extend the compliance deadline if the date of either of the below milestones cause the deadline to be later than 12 months:
- The compliance deadline will be no earlier than eight months after the Bureau has published the database download file specification, which should be the final detail necessary for service providers to complete design of their systems;
- The compliance deadline will be no earlier than two months after the Bureau announces that the database administrator has made the initial database download file available for testing.
- Compliance for Small Service Providers: The FCC adopts an 18 month deadline for small service providers using the same definition above, that will in no case be earlier than 14 months after the Bureau has published the database download file specifications. This small provide compliance deadline will also be no earlier than two months after the Bureau announces that the database administrator has made the initial database download file available for testing for larger service providers.
- Compliance: The FCC adopts a 12-month compliance deadline for non-small providers per the below conditions, and delegates responsibility for implementing this deadline to the Bureau, which includes the ability to extend the compliance deadline if the date of either of the below milestones cause the deadline to be later than 12 months:
- Designates the Lifeline as the Support Program for Survivors: The FCC designates the Lifeline program as the program that will provide emergency support for survivors.
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