Blocking unwanted calls: Anatel authorizes anti-spam and studies bringing the system to all customers

Blocking unwanted calls generates dispute between operators at Anatel Vivo's system against unwanted calls that was the target of complaints from TIM was authorized by the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel), which is considering adopting similar blocking on other telephone networks. (see more at the end) The so-called "Vivo Anti-spam" has been the subject of Anatel's administrative processes since the beginning of June. The allegation of at least seven companies, including TIM, is that the service prevents legitimate calls and creates artificial barriers for Vivo's competitors. Do you have any reporting suggestions? Send it to g1 But, last Thursday (13), Anatel concluded that there are not enough elements to consider Vivo Anti-spam a violation of sector rules and determined that the company can continue using its tool. The agency clarified that the measure does not give operators unrestricted freedom to block calls. And he said that systems against unwanted calls must consider factors such as proportionality, transparency and equal treatment between companies. Unwanted robocalls, called "robocalls" Fantastic Why do we receive so many unwanted calls? And how to avoid this type of call? One of the points questioned by TIM was the competitor's decision to activate anti-spam by default for all customers – the tool had been launched in November 2024, but only started to be automatically activated in May 2026. Vivo said that the service's cancellation rate by users is just 0.007%, which would reinforce its acceptance by the public. Anatel concluded that automatic activation reduces the exposure of "hypervulnerable" consumers with low digital literacy to scams. In the agency's assessment, they would have more difficulty using the tool if they had to enable it themselves. But the body determined that the anti-spam page on Vivo's website must have "clear, clear and easy-to-understand information about its operation, including the criteria and parameters used to define the traffic subject to filtering." Understand the dispute between operators In addition to TIM, other companies that questioned the system reported to Anatel cases of blocking calls considered legitimate, such as those made by public health, security and education services. Operators also questioned the lack of clarity about how the system defines which calls would be blocked. In some cases, the numbers were released after contacting Vivo. The main issue in the dispute between the companies is the criteria used to block calls, explained Eduardo Tude, president of the consultancy Teleco, to g1 in early August. "The phone's anti-spam works like that of e-mail: from time to time, things fall out that shouldn't have fallen. There is no perfect anti-spam that will only block what should be blocked", he stated. "Vivo cannot block legitimate calls. Anatel will have to establish some mechanism to prevent this from happening", he continued. Anatel evaluates expanding blocks against spam Still in its decision, Anatel recommended that other departments of the agency evaluate the possible adoption of criteria for blocking unwanted calls from Vivo Anti-spam by other telephone networks. In the agency's assessment, the high number of calls without identification and without effective interaction, such as silent calls, "constitutes an abusive practice, which deteriorates communication and promotes a crisis of reliability among users". The objective of the recommendation is to encourage the creation of standards to block robots from receiving calls, protecting users who would not know how to configure blocks manually. This means that Vivo's model would no longer be an isolated initiative but would become a standard for all operators. The body also stated that standardization in the sector would help ensure equal conditions between companies, preventing filtering rules from being restricted to just one operator. Companies stated that Vivo's anti-spam system prevented legitimate calls Priscilla Du Preez/Unsplash