Regulatory gates
A few conditions don’t trim the value; they decide whether there’s a going business to value at all. The engine prices each one by re-running the valuation with it failed.
Conditions, not drivers
Some things don’t make a business worth a little less; they change what’s being sold. If a phone company is dropped from the federal robocall database, carriers must refuse its calls. The business stops working, and only the customer list is left to sell.
A gate is a condition a buyer’s counsel checks before price is discussed. A failed gate doesn’t lower the multiple; it changes the premise. The engine treats each one as a scenario, re-running the whole valuation with that gate failed.
How to read it. A long bar means a lot of value depends on that gate staying clear. The bars overlap, so they are not added: if every gate failed at once, $3.93M would become $239k, a loss of $3.69M.
One gate, frame by frame
- ListedCarriers accept your traffic. The business is valued as a going concern: $3.93M.
- RemovedThe FCC de-lists the provider. It removed 185 providers on 6 August 2025 and about 1,190 on 25 August.
- Calls blockedUnder 47 CFR 64.6305 carriers must refuse the traffic. Customers can’t dial out.
- Book portedThe only value left is what a competitor pays for the customer list: $395k.
Two figures for one event
The scenarios carry a gate-event state worth $769k, at a 3% weight: the listing lapses later and the book is ported in an orderly way. The gate board’s $395k assumes removal today, when traffic is already blocked and porting is distressed. Same event, two timings; both are printed.
How each gate is evidenced
| Gate | Where it’s verified | Public record |
|---|---|---|
| Robocall Mitigation Database listing | The FCC’s Robocall Mitigation Database: status, STIR/SHAKEN level and certification date | Yes, free |
| 911 compliance | Platform configuration and a test-call log per seat type | No |
| State registrations and tax filings | Each state commission’s registration search and revenue department | Yes, pulled by hand |
| USF, 911 and telecom taxes remitted | The FCC Form 499 filer database and USAC invoices | Yes |
| USF recovered on invoices | A sample of customer invoices against the contribution factor | No |
A gate that can be checked in a public record and still rests on the company’s word is the first thing a buyer’s counsel looks up. The report’s own tool pulls the public records it can and prints where a database refused a scripted request.
What to do about them
Calendar the annual robocall-database certification, the quarterly and annual Form 499 filings and the state renewals, and keep the receipts. A gate that lapses before a sale undoes more value than any improvement creates, which is why the gates come before the plan.
- Treatment. each gate is a state of the world, re-run with the gate failed; never a point added to the discount rate
- Not additive. the rows overlap: once the listing is gone the other gates have little left to protect
- Prior. the de-listing state’s weight is a 3% prior for a listed provider, 20% if deficient, 95% if removed, 8% if unknown; +3 points if 911 is not in place, +2 for registration gaps
- Liability gates. unremitted USF, 911 and telecom taxes are a liability that comes straight off the price in the equity bridge
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