Pai Presses Major Voice Providers to Launch Shaken/Stir Call Authentication in 2019
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai "demanded" industry "adopt a robust call authentication system to combat illegal caller ID spoofing" and launch it no later than 2019. “Combatting illegal robocalls is our top consumer priority," he said Monday on letters to 14…
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telecom and internet voice providers. Call authentication is "the best way to ensure that consumers can answer their phones with confidence," he said. "By this time next year, I expect that consumers will begin to see this on their phones. Carriers need to continue working together to make this happen and I am calling on those falling behind to catch up. ... If it does not appear that this system is on track to get up and running next year, then we will take action to make sure that it does.” In May, Pai welcomed a North American Numbering Council report recommending industry quickly establish governing and policy authorities for implementing a Shaken/Stir (Secure Handling of Asserted information using toKENs/Secure Telephony Identity Revisited) framework, with some providers expected to adopt the protocols within a year (see 1805140028). Some then made announcements. Pai's letters Monday asked providers that apparently haven't established concrete Shaken/Stir implementation plans to do so without delay, with questions about their efforts: CenturyLink, Charter Communications, Frontier Communications, Sprint, TDS, U.S. Cellular and Vonage. He asked other providers for Shaken/Stir implementation timelines and details: AT&T, Bandwidth.com, Comcast, Cox Communications, Google, T-Mobile and Verizon. USTelecom leads the Industry Traceback Group working to fight robocalls via "consumer tools, new technologies, traceback efforts and law enforcement," an association spokesperson responded. "The SHAKEN/STIR standard is an important tool" in the industrywide "toolkit to combat illegal robocalls and identify the sources of untrustworthy communications," he emailed. “NCTA members are actively participating in the development and implementation of the Shaken/Stir protocol,” said a spokesperson. "The wireless industry is fully committed to protecting consumers and will continue to work closely with the FCC, FTC, law enforcement and other stakeholders to combat the problem, including developing and deploying call authentication tools as quickly as possible," said CTIA Senior Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Scott Bergmann.