Getting your player ready...
WASHINGTON — Tired of automated phone calls urging you to vote for a certain candidate or pitching you a cruise vacation? You can now tell your phone company that federal regulators say it’s OK to block them.
The question now is whether the phone companies have the technology to do it in a way consumers want.
The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday agreed that Verizon, AT&T and other telecommunication carriers aren’t duty-bound to connect those annoying “robocalls” if a consumer doesn’t want them. FCC commissioners mostly agreed that call blocking technology should not only be allowed but encouraged.
The FCC also voted in favor of expanding its Lifeline program to provide low-income subsidies for broadband service.
