FCC Puts Gateway Provider DigitalIPvoice on Notice Over "Graduate Support" Student Loan Robocalls

The bottom line: if you bring foreign traffic onto U.S. networks, you are responsible for blocking illegal calls once the FCC tells you about them, whatever the message content.

What a gateway provider is

Under FCC rules, a gateway provider is a U.S.-based intermediate provider that receives a call directly from a foreign originating or intermediate provider at its U.S. facilities and then passes it to another U.S. provider. Gateway providers are often the first U.S. company in the call path for robocalls placed from overseas.

The calls

Per the letter, the USTelecom Industry Traceback Group (ITG) investigated prerecorded calls to the cell phones of Verizon and YouMail customers between December 4 and December 11 2023. The ITG identified DigitalIPvoice as the gateway provider for seven apparently unlawful calls.

The calls contained variations of the following message:

"Hello this is [name] from graduate support. Our records indicate you are eligible for an income driven program but never completed the required documents. If you want to proceed with this application we need to speak to you today. Please give us a call back at [phone number] to secure your benefits."

The FCC said prerecorded or artificial voice calls to cell phones are illegal without prior express consent or an emergency purpose, regardless of content. According to the letter, DigitalIPvoice did not dispute that the calls were illegal.

What DigitalIPvoice was told to do

The notice listed three steps to take:

1. Promptly investigate the identified calls.
2. If it served as the gateway provider, block the identified traffic within 14 days, and keep blocking that traffic and substantially similar traffic on an ongoing basis.
3. To report the results of its investigation to the Bureau within 14 days, with a copy to the ITG.

If the company concluded it was not the gateway provider, it was to explain how it reached that conclusion and identify the upstream provider that sent the traffic.

The consequences

The FCC warned that a failure to respond, an insufficient response or continued carriage of similar traffic could lead to an order directing every provider immediately downstream to block all of DigitalIPvoice's traffic. Separately, downstream providers could begin blocking on their own if the company failed to mitigate within 48 hours or failed to put effective measures in place within 14 days.

What this means for you

1. Know if you're a gateway provider. The obligations are specific and the deadlines are short.
2. Content does not save a prerecorded call to a cell phone. Consent is the question.
3. Keep blocking after the notice. The duty extends to substantially similar traffic going forward, not just the calls listed.
4. Be ready to name your upstream source. A provider that says it was not the gateway still has to explain where the traffic came from.

Student loan robocalls have been a repeat FCC target since 2022. Providers carrying that traffic should expect close scrutiny.