Eighty-four p.c of all name visitors between high U.S. telecom suppliers was signed and verified utilizing STIR/SHAKEN protocols within the first half of 2025
Via a mixture of coverage momentum, IP modernization and real-time analytics, key telecom trade stakeholders — carriers, know-how suppliers, and regulators — are reshaping how voice fraud is recognized, mitigated, and prevented. Eighty-four p.c of all name visitors between high U.S. telecom suppliers (Verizon, UScellular, T-Cell, Lumen, Comcast, Constitution, and AT&T) was signed and verified utilizing STIR/SHAKEN protocols within the first half of 2025.
It’s evident that the telecom trade has made vital progress because the passage of the TRACED Act and the next implementation of STIR/SHAKEN protocols. But, there are roadblocks to reaching a totally operationalized STIR/SHAKEN atmosphere. Regardless of the robust signed name visitors metrics, Tier-1 operators have plateaued at this price of signed visitors since 2023, on account of name signing challenges stemming from stagnation in IP adoption amongst non-top operators.
The telecom trade faces one other pivotal inflection level, as unhealthy actors proceed to cover undesirable visitors in operators’ networks. For that cause, all stakeholders should proceed to advance efforts and cost-effective applied sciences to facilitate migration to IP networks.
2020 Robocall Disaster and the TRACED ACT
The 2019 pre-pandemic peak of 106.9 billion robocalls that 12 months pushed the telecom trade to take aggressive motion towards rip-off calls.
For robocall unhealthy actors, buoyed by low cost VoIP know-how and worldwide rip-off operations, the 2010s had been the Wild Wild West. No regulation required carriers to dam calls by default or authenticate caller ID. The FCC may solely fantastic violators after issuing a warning, whereas many robocall unhealthy actors operated offshore or used faux identities. Moreover, the FTC’s Do Not Name checklist was ineffective on account of an absence of enforcement instruments.
Reduction got here within the type of the 2019 Phone Robocall Abuse Felony Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act. Signed into regulation by President Trump on December 30, 2019, the pro-consumer, pro-privacy invoice has been successful.
Robocall quantity is down as high carriers have migrated their networks to IP, carried out the STIR/SHAKEN protocols, and established SIP-to-SIP connections. On the identical time, shopper consciousness of robocalls and their willingness to report rip-off makes an attempt has elevated. Current survey information exhibits 43% of individuals lodged complaints about undesirable robocalls, up from 28% two years in the past. Within the final 12 months alone, practically half of all voice clients have submitted a robocall criticism to the authorities.
Whereas challenges persist, the trail ahead is evident: advance, adapt, and collaborate.
4 priorities to strengthen name authentication and shopper belief
To take care of, protect, and quicken the progress stemming from the TRACED Act, and make sure the telecom trade will get essentially the most out of STIR/SHAKEN authentication, carriers, regulators, and know-how suppliers should handle key vulnerabilities that threaten People’ belief within the voice channel.
TNS’ Half-Yr 2025 Robocall Report recognized 4 crucial challenges important for fortifying name authentication, combating fraud, and enabling a totally trusted voice community.
1. Bridge the Signing and Connectivity Divide In The Telecom Trade
Many smaller carriers have confronted vital challenges in digitally reworking their networks to IP to adjust to STIR/SHAKEN requirements. Robocall unhealthy actors goal these operators, hiding undesirable and unsigned visitors amongst these networks.
To assist these smaller carriers, the FCC launched a current Discover of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which goals to shut the non-IP community gaps that scammers have aggressively exploited to bypass STIR/SHAKEN. Know-how suppliers and telecom trade leaders ought to observe the FCC’s lead and proceed to develop cost-effective options to facilitate community migration and strengthen defenses towards robocall unhealthy actors.
2. Enhance the Integrity of Name Attestation Throughout All Operators
Whereas STIR/SHAKEN protocols improve name signing, it doesn’t confirm the attestation degree assigned to every name. Scammers have exploited this loophole by a sequence of invalid attestation scams, the place calls originating from invalid or spoofed numbers keep an “A” attestation. A current information sampling from TNS exhibits that out of the 585,000 calls positioned utilizing invalid phone numbers, 340,000 had been signed with an “A” degree attestation, a lot of which originated from inside Tier-1 networks.
Invalid attestations spotlight a limitation of STIR/SHAKEN and underscore the necessity for stronger name signing and attestation frameworks, just like the FCC’s current NPRM, to be carried out.
3. Shut Authentication Gaps Inside Trusted Networks
Along with invalid attestation, SIM boxing is one other evolving robocall tactic. Dangerous actors have traditionally used SIM boxing assaults to take advantage of value disparities between native and worldwide name charges. Just lately, scammers have acknowledged that calls originating and terminating on the identical community are inherently trusted and left unsigned. By leveraging a number of SIM playing cards, unhealthy actors can launch robocall rip-off campaigns from abroad and conceal visitors inside trusted networks.
To counter this, operators have sought to enhance their name analytics algorithm by incorporating STIR/SHAKEN signature information into their fashions to higher determine and block fraudulent calls.
4. Strengthen Defenses Towards AI-generated Voice and Textual content Fraud
Scammers have shortly adopted generative AI applied sciences to launch refined impersonation scams, making it troublesome to find out whether or not the voice on the opposite finish of the decision is artificial or that of an actual particular person. Likewise, spoofed SMS messages that direct shoppers to phishing websites have additionally develop into extra real looking.
Whereas the robocall mitigation ecosystem is stronger in the present day than it was 5 years in the past, additionally it is below better strain. AI has raised the stakes, additional endangering People.
Guaranteeing the long-term success of STIR/SHAKEN and restoring belief to the voice channel requires a dedication from all telecom trade stakeholders to creating extra modern attestation practices, working collectively to modernize legacy networks, and deploying analytics platforms and superior AI applied sciences to strengthen defenses towards robocall unhealthy actors.
