(a) 988 is established as the 3-digit dialing code for a national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline system maintained by the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

(b) All covered providers shall transmit all calls initiated by an end user dialing 988 to the current toll free access number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, presently 1-800-273-8255 (TALK).

(c) All covered providers shall complete 10-digit dialing implementation in areas that use 7-digit dialing and have assigned 988 as a central office code as defined in §52.7(c) by July 16, 2022.

(d) All covered providers shall complete all changes to their systems that are necessary to implement the designation of the 988 dialing code by July 16, 2022.

(e) For purposes of complying with the requirements of this section,

(1) The term “covered provider” means any telecommunications carrier, interconnected VoIP provider, or provider of one-way VoIP.

(2) The term “one-way VoIP”—

(i) Means a service that—

(A) Enables real-time, two-way voice communications;

(B) Requires a broadband connection from the user's location;

(C) Requires internet protocol-compatible customer premises equipment; and

(D) Permits users generally to receive calls that originate on the public switched telephone network or to terminate calls to the public switched telephone network.

(ii) Does not include any service that is an interconnected VoIP service.