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Industry Solution to Detect, Mitigate and Deter Illegal Robocalling Passes Important Milestone

Industry Solution to Detect, Mitigate and Deter Illegal Robocalling Passes Important Milestone

WASHINGTON – The Secure Telephone Identity Governance Authority (STI-GA) announced today that the nation’s Calling Number Verification Service, which is based on the SHAKEN framework, will launch December 16, 2019. The launch is a critical step forward in mitigating illegal robocalling, the leading cause of consumer complaints to both the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Beginning December 16, voice service providers can register with iconectiv, the STI Policy Administrator, to obtain credentials in order to acquire STI certificates from approved Certification Authorities. These certificates will be used to authenticate Caller ID, inform customers if the Caller ID was spoofed and to facilitate tracing calls back to their origin.

“Setting SHAKEN into action completes a major milestone in an initiative that brought the industry together through ATIS to find a solution to address the formidable challenge of illegal robocalling,” said ATIS President and CEO Susan Miller. “This development advances a top industry priority critical to restoring consumer trust in the voice network.”

“The successful launch of STIR/SHAKEN by the industry-led STI-GA is a major step in the fight to mitigate illegal robocalls and Caller ID spoofing,” said STI-GA Chair Linda Vandeloop.

“The announcement of this final milestone from the NANC report is a reflection of the industry’s commitment to minimize robocalling by protecting our customers through the rapid implementation of the Governance Authority and caller-ID authentication,” said Glenn Clepper, STI-GA Vice Chair.

“The American people have spoken and the industry has rallied to give consumers and businesses a much needed break from the widespread impact that illegal robocalling has had on the economy and on consumer confidence when answering the phone,” said Richard Jacowleff, President and CEO, iconectiv.  “As the Policy Administrator for the nation’s Calling Number Verification Service, we take great pride in being part of the industry effort in rebuilding that public confidence by blocking out those who attempt to use it to defraud American citizens.”

The STI-GA is composed of representation from all segments of the telecommunications industry. The STI-GA has worked closely with iconectiv to build, test, and deploy systems and processes that enable service providers to obtain certificates used to sign and verify calls.  Following the approval of Certification Authorities, the STI-GA determined that the Calling Number Verification Service is now ready for launch.

It is recommended that service providers read the Service Provider Guidelines before registering online.  Once registered, service providers will be able to access a list of Certification Authorities that can assign digital certificates used to sign calls and authenticate Caller ID.

About the STI-GA
Operating under the auspices of ATIS, the Secure Telephone Identity Governance Authority (STI-GA) is the industry-led effort to support the timely deployment of the STIR/SHAKEN protocol and framework. The STI-GA Board consists of representatives from the following stakeholders:

  • Chair – Linda Vandeloop, AT&T
  • Vice Chair – Glenn Clepper, Charter Communications; appointed by NCTA – The Internet & Television Association
  • Clinton Lee, Jackson Energy Authority; appointed by the America’s Communications Association
  • Nathan Sutter, Nex-Tech Wireless; appointed by the Competitive Carriers Association
  • Indra Chalk, T-Mobile; appointed by CTIA
  • Greg Rogers, Bandwidth; appointed by INCOMPAS
  • Dave Frigen, Wabash Communications; appointed by NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association
  • Chris Oatway, Verizon; appointed by US Telecom
  • Gunnar Halley, Microsoft; appointed by the VON Coalition
  • Michael Starkey, QSI Consulting, Inc.; appointed by Western Telecommunications Alliance and TEXALTEL
  • Tim Kagele, Comcast
  • Darah Franklin, Google

Learn more about the industry-led STI-GA and its critical contributions toward combatting illegal robocalling at: www.atis.org/sti-ga/

About ATIS
As a leading technology and solutions development organization, the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) brings together the top global ICT companies to advance the industry’s business priorities. ATIS’ 150 member companies are currently working to address 5G, Smart Cities, illegal robocall mitigation, wireless emergency alerts, artificial intelligence-enabled networks, distributed ledger/blockchain technology, cybersecurity, IoT, emergency services, quality of service, billing support, operations, and much more. These priorities follow a fast-track development lifecycle – from design and innovation through standards, specifications, requirements, business use cases, software toolkits, open source solutions, and interoperability testing.

ATIS is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). ATIS is the North American Organizational Partner for the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a founding Partner of the oneM2M global initiative, a member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), as well as a member of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL). For more information, visit www.atis.org. Follow ATIS on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About iconectiv
Your business and your customers need to access and exchange information simply, seamlessly and securely. iconectiv’s extensive experience in information services and its unmatched numbering intelligence helps you do just that. In fact, more than 2B people count on our platforms each day to keep their networks, devices and applications connected. Our cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions span network and operations management, numbering, trusted communications and fraud prevention. For more information, visit www.iconectiv.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Marcella Wolfe, Manager – Public Relations and Marketing Communications, ATIS