T-Mobile and Verizon have implemented the FCC’s anti-spoofing system
0Reported today on The Verge
For the full article visit: https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/30/22557539/t-mobile-verizon-carriers-fcc-stir-shaken-certification-deadline-spam-calls
Reported today in The Verge.
T-Mobile and Verizon have implemented the FCC's anti-spoofing system
T-Mobile announced on Wednesday that it is fully compliant with the FCC's new anti-spoofing protocol, telling the FCC that its now certifying that calls from its network are protected against impersonation by scam callers using the STIR/SHAKEN protocol.
Verizon also announced that it's verifying that the number that shows up on your caller ID is actually the number that's calling you, using the same STIR/SHAKEN protocol. The two major carriers announcing their progress on the same day isn't a coincidence - Wednesday, June 30th, is the deadline the FCC set for major carriers to implement STIR/SHAKEN. An AT&T spokesperson told The Verge that the carrier also met the deadline, as it filed on the 29th.
The protocol, with its James Bond-themed name, works to prevent scam and spam callers from spoofing their number and showing up on your caller ID as a local caller. The FCC hopes that carriers implementing it will help stem the tide of robocalls that have made many of us scared of our phones' actual phone function. In a press release put out on Wednesday (pdf), the commission stated that over 1,500 voice providers have filed to be included in its Robocall Mitigation Database, with over 200 of those providers being fully certified.
The Wednesday deadline set by the FCC is only for major carriers - smaller carriers with fewer than 100,000 subscribers will be exempt until June 30th, 2023, though the FCC is considering shortening that timespan (pdf). The major carriers that haven't certified themselves as compliant may face an unspecified "appropriate enforcement action" from the FCC and will run into even more trouble come September. Beginning September 28th, according to the FCC