Panetta lauds cell providers’ response to anti-robocall bill

A MONTH after the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan bill to crack down on robocalls, a coalition of the country's largest telecoms announced last week they would do more to prevent illegal calls and offer consumers technology to block them. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, who represents the Monterey Peninsula, cosponsored the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act, a bill introduced by a New Jersey congressman to give the FCC more authority to track down robocallers, make it easier for consumers to say they don't want robocalls, and require incoming calls to include information about who is making them. On Aug. 22, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint and eight other companies pledged to block illegal phone calls before they reach consumers, install anti-robocall technology, offer consumers the capability to block such calls at no charge and identify and share information on illegal robocallers quickly with law enforcement, Consumer Reports said. "I'm glad to see companies are taking action," Panetta said on Facebook this week. The House of Representatives passed the legislation on a 429-3 vote. "I am proud to have helped pass this bill in the House, an important step to protect our community members from robocall harassment," Panetta told The Pine Cone Wednesday. "I urge my colleagues in the Senate to support this bill." A survey by Consumer Reports found that the billions of unwanted calls flooding phones have compelled consumers to "fundamentally change the way they interact with" phones. Of those surveyed, 70 percent said "they no longer answer the phone if they don't recognize the number," Consumer Reports said. According to New Jersey Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone, who introduced the bill, more than 26 billion "unwanted calls" were placed in the United States last year, representing a 46 percent increase over 2017. While some robocalls are made by legitimate companies, such calls are often used by scammers, who "stole" $9.5 billion from 22 million Americans in 2018, Pallone reported on his website.