(a) Aggregate information. The term “aggregate information” means collective data that relate to a group or category of services or customers, from which individual customer identities or characteristics have been removed.

(b) ANI. The term “ANI” (automatic number identification) refers to the delivery of the calling party's billing number by a local exchange carrier to any interconnecting carrier for billing or routing purposes, and to the subsequent delivery of such number to end users.

(c) Caller identification information. The term “caller identification information” means information provided by a caller identification service regarding the telephone number of, or other information regarding the origination of, a call made using a voice service or a text message sent using a text messaging service.

(d) Caller identification service. The term “caller identification service” means any service or device designed to provide the user of the service or device with the telephone number of, or other information regarding the origination of, a call made using a voice service or a text message sent using a text messaging service.

(e) Calling party number. The term “Calling Party Number” refers to the subscriber line number or the directory number contained in the calling party number parameter of the call set-up message associated with an interstate call on a Signaling System 7 network.

(f) Charge number. The term “charge number” refers to the delivery of the calling party's billing number in a Signaling System 7 environment by a local exchange carrier to any interconnecting carrier for billing or routing purposes, and to the subsequent delivery of such number to end users.

(g) Information regarding the origination. The term “information regarding the origination” means any:

(1) Telephone number;

(2) Portion of a telephone number, such as an area code;

(3) Name;

(4) Location information;

(5) Billing number information, including charge number, ANI, or pseudo-ANI; or

(6) Other information regarding the source or apparent source of a telephone call.

(h) Interconnected VoIP service. The term “interconnected VoIP service” has the same meaning given the term “interconnected VoIP service” in 47 CFR 9.3 as it currently exists or may hereafter be amended.

(i) Intermediate provider. The term “intermediate provider” means any entity that carries or processes traffic that traverses or will traverse the public switched telephone network (PSTN) at any point insofar as that entity neither originates nor terminates that traffic.

(j) N11 service code. For purposes of this subpart, the term “N11 service code” means an abbreviated dialing code that allows telephone users to connect with a particular node in the network by dialing only three digits, of which the first digit is any digit other than `1' or `0', and each of the last two digits is `1'.

(k) Multimedia message service (MMS). The term “multimedia message service” or MMS refers to a wireless messaging service that is an extension of the SMS protocol and can deliver a variety of media, and enables users to send pictures, videos, and attachments over wireless messaging channels.

(l) Privacy indicator. The term “privacy indicator” refers to information, contained in the calling party number parameter of the call set-up message associated with an interstate call on an Signaling System 7 network, that indicates whether the calling party authorizes presentation of the calling party number to the called party.

(m) Short message service (SMS). The term “short message service” or SMS refers to a wireless messaging service that enables users to send and receive short text messages, typically 160 characters or fewer, to or from mobile phones and can support a host of applications.

(n) Signaling System 7. The term “Signaling System 7” (SS7) refers to a carrier to carrier out-of-band signaling network used for call routing, billing and management.

(o) Text message. The term “text message”:

(1) Means a message consisting of text, images, sounds, or other information that is transmitted to or from a device that is identified as the receiving or transmitting device by means of a 10-digit telephone number or N11 service code;

(2) Includes a short message service (SMS) message, and a multimedia message service (MMS) message and

(3) Does not include:

(i) A real-time, two-way voice or video communication; or

(ii) A message sent over an IP-enabled messaging service to another user of the same messaging service, except a message described in paragraph (o)(2) of this section.

(p) Text messaging service. The term “text messaging service” means a service that enables the transmission or receipt of a text message, including a service provided as part of or in connection with a voice service.

(q) Threatening call. The term “threatening call” is any call that conveys an emergency involving danger of death or serious physical injury to any person requiring disclosure without delay of information relating to the emergency.

(r) Voice service. The term “voice service”:

(1) Means any service that is interconnected with the public switched telephone network and that furnishes voice communications to an end user using resources from the North American Numbering Plan or any successor to the North American Numbering Plan adopted by the Commission under section 251(e)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended; and

(2) Includes transmissions from a telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other device to a telephone facsimile machine.

[60 FR 29490, June 5, 1995, as amended at 76 FR 43205, July 20, 2011; 76 FR 73882, Nov. 29, 2011; 82 FR 56917, Dec. 1, 2017; 84 FR 45678, Aug. 30, 2019]