US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai moved to force operators to adopt technology to prevent spam calls, arguing earlier attempts to allow them to do so voluntarily had fallen short.

New rules proposed by Pai would require major operators and VoIP providers to deploy a spam prevention framework known as SHAKEN/STIR by 30 June 2021, with smaller and rural service providers having until end-June 2022 to follow suit.

SHAKEN/STIR requires operators to validate call traffic as legitimate before it is passed along to a consumer. While several major operators implemented the technology over the past year, Pai stated “it’s clear that FCC action is needed to spur across-the-board deployment”.

Pai warned in November 2018 operators could face an FCC mandate if they failed to implement the technology voluntarily in 2019.

The chairman’s hand is now being forced by Congress, which passed a law in December 2019 requiring operators to adopt SHAKEN/STIR within 18 months.

The FCC will vote on the proposed rules at its next monthly meeting, sheduled for 31 March.