STATEMENT OF
CHAIRMAN AJIT PAI
Re: Advanced Methods to Target and Eliminate Unlawful Robocalls, CG Docket No. 17-59
So, you’ve just purchased a new mobile phone and received a new phone number.  Life is good!  
But then the calls start.  It’s an automated voice message from a doctor’s office informing you 
about an upcoming appointment.  But that’s not your doctor. And you don’t have any appointments on 
the horizon.  Then more and more calls start rolling in from the same doctor’s office—until, after a 
week’s time, you end up with approximately three calls a day.  You are frustrated and annoyed.  
The very slight silver lining is that you’re not alone.  You have joined the ranks of many 
consumers who are getting calls intended for someone else.  You’re an incidental victim because the 
phone number you now have has been reassigned or recycled from someone else.
Now, let’s look as this problem from the doctor’s perspective.  After placing several calls to a 
patient, the doctor’s office is still unable to reach her, and is unsure whether she’ll show up to the 
appointment.  Additionally, the office now faces legal liability.  That’s because, unbeknownst to the 
doctor’s office, the customer phone number it has on file has been reassigned to a new person.
And let’s not omit the perspective of the person who had the phone number before it was 
reassigned.  Although she no longer holds the phone number in question, she is not receiving the reminder 
she has requested and could miss her appointment.
So how can we address this problem?  Today’s Second Notice of Inquiry tees up several 
approaches for carriers to report phone number reassignments and for businesses to be able to access that 
database.  For example, the FCC could designate an administrator of a central reassigned numbers 
database.  Or, providers could report the reassigned numbers directly to businesses or to an aggregator.  
Or, perhaps the providers could operate a database that could be queried as needed.  We hope to get solid 
public input on the best way to structure a useful, cost-effective database.
With today’s Second Notice of Inquiry, the FCC takes an important first step to address the
problems described above by exploring ways that businesses can verify whether a number has been 
reassigned prior to initiating a call.  That would save everyone a lot of trouble.
What a terrific team effort this has been.  My gratitude extends to the many hardworking staffers 
who developed this item: John B. Adams, Micah Caldwell, Karen Schroeder, Kurt Schroeder, Mark 
Stone, Patrick Webre, and Josh Zeldis from the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau; Laurence 
Atlas, Doug Klein, Rick Mallen, Scott Noveck, Linda Oliver, Bill Richardson, Jennifer Tatel, and Chin 
Yoo from Office of the General Counsel; Heather Hendrickson, Daniel Kahn, Nirali Patel, Sherwin Siy, 
and Ann Stevens from the Wireline Competition Bureau; Richard Hindman and Kristi Thompson from 
the Enforcement Bureau; Henning Schulzrinne and Antonio Sweet from Office of Strategic Planning and 
Policy Analysis; Belford Lawson and Sanford Williams from the Office of Communication Business 
Opportunities; and Pramesh Jobanputra and Catherine Matraves from the Wireless Telecommunications 
Bureau.