American and Canadian Telecom Leaders Make First Official Cross-Border Call Using Anti-Spoofing Technology

FCC Chairman Pai & CRTC Chairperson Scott Discussed Their Shared Goal of Protecting Consumers from Spoofed, Scam Robocalls

Today, Ajit Pai, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, and Ian Scott, Chairperson and CEO of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, completed the first official cross-border call using a new system aimed at combating illegal caller ID spoofing.  The call took place between Comcast and TELUS networks using a caller ID authentication framework known as SHAKEN/STIR.  Pai and Scott issued the following joint statement about the historic call: 

“Spoofed, scam robocalls are an international problem.  Both Americans and Canadians are being bombarded by these calls, which are too often used to defraud consumers and target some of our most vulnerable communities.  That’s why the FCC and CRTC are committed to combating robocalls by aggressively attacking the use of caller ID spoofing.

“Towards that end, this afternoon, we conducted the first official cross-border call using SHAKEN/STIR.  This new framework enables service providers to authenticate and verify the caller ID information of voice calls made using Internet Protocol.  It’s essentially a digital fingerprint for telephone calls.  When a call between participating providers is transmitted without that digital fingerprint, the receiving phone company will know that the caller ID information is spoofed and can act to protect its customer from scams.

“This call between the chairs of the FCC and CRTC demonstrates our joint commitment to the fight against spoofed calls and our focus on protecting American and Canadian consumers.  Spoofing is a challenge that requires broad cooperation and engagement, both domestically and internationally, from many partners including the telecommunications industry.  The timely implementation of SHAKEN/STIR will enhance the security of American and Canadian consumers and give them the peace of mind they demand and deserve when the phone rings.

“We look forward to continuing to collaborate as we work to combat the scourge of unwanted robocalls.”

Unwanted calls are the FCC’s top consumer complaint and the agency’s top consumer protection priority.  Under Chairman Pai’s leadership, the FCC has pursued a multi-pronged approach to combatting unlawful robocalls and malicious caller ID spoofing.  As part of this approach, the FCC has empowered service providers to offer robocall blocking services by default, adopted rules banning malicious caller ID spoofing of text messages and foreign calls, and issued the largest fines in its history for violations of its caller ID spoofing rules. 

Chairman Pai has also demanded that major voice service providers implement the SHAKEN/STIR caller ID authentication framework by the end of this year.  In June 2019, the Commission adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that positions the agency to mandate the implementation of SHAKEN/STIR if this deadline isn’t met.  For more information from the FCC on the SHAKEN/STIR caller ID authentication framework, visit: https://www.fcc.gov/call-authentication

Source: FCC media announcement