National Regulatory Authorities fight the good fight domestically but struggle to contain the tsunami of unwanted calls and texts from abroad
The telecoms industry has taken a small but positive step in the fight illegal and unwanted voice calls and messages originating from abroad. The i3Forum – international IP interconnection for those asking – has launched the One Consortium, a not-for-profit organisation specifically designed for the international communications ecosystem to join forces and cooperate with Telecommunications Regulators (NRAs) globally.
The rationale is clear: fraudulent calls and messages are a global problem, and many current initiatives are focused at a national level. According to its Global Call Threat Report, Hiya flagged 7.3 billion suspected spam calls in Q4 2023 (up from 6.55 billion spam calls in Q3 2023). That’s 81.1 million unwanted calls every day.
The One Consortium is part of the i3Forum’s Restore Trust initiative which will try to get National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) globally to facilitate a worldwide, structured dialogue between industry – assuming not the ones making lots of money from spam – and telecommunications regulators on restoring trust.
The loss of public trust in communications is driven by the proliferation of unwanted/illegal voice calls and messages (e.g. spamming, spoofing, robocalling or texting). While every country has moved to implement mitigations, and a number have done bilateral deals with other countries, the challenge is even greater when it comes to combating nuisance communications originating from abroad.
GSMA and others aboard
One Consortium is supported by industry organisations such as the GSMA, the Global Leaders Forum (GLF) and the Global Solutions Council (GSC). It will work to agree and drive adoption in the international communications ecosystem of a range of vendor-neutral solutions to fight nuisance communications.
Potential approaches may include a global traceback mechanism, call certification, management/verification of national CLIs on international trunks, improved Know Your Customer / Know your Traffic (KYC/KYT) mechanisms, trusted trunks and more.
Philippe Millet, founder and chairman of the i3Forum said the launch was the first tangible milestone for The Restore Trust initiative. “One Consortium was brought to life in under six months by an incredible team of over 50 dedicated people representing 30 organisations of the ecosystem.”
ATIS president and CEO Susan Miller said: “ATIS is pleased to contribute to this important initiative addressing fraudulent calls at the international level…By taking a broad perspective that incorporates diverse, proven approaches, One Consortium will show how different strategies complement each other to combat this growing problem.”
“As we are reinventing ourselves in the new digital landscape we need to continue ensuring trust and security for our customers. Collaboration and experience concerning fraud are fundamental and will be critical in delivering ways to reduce, and ultimately eradicate, fraud from our telecom business,” said Orange Wholesale International CEO Emmanuel Rochas. “That’s why Orange Wholesale supports the One Consortium industry initiative.”
“Trust arrives on foot, and leaves on horseback,” said Eli Katz, CEO & founder of XConnect. “Both the voice and messaging industries are suffering from significant fraud, scams and spoofing. Collaboration across both industry, trade associations and national regulators is essential to address these challenges especially on a global basis, as the fraudsters have no regards for national boundaries.”
“Nuisance voice calls and messages threaten trust in communications. The i3Forum One Consortium initiative is a promise: to foster collaboration and earnest communication among industry, associations, and regulators to combat fraud and restore that trust. BICS has been actively contributing to i3Forum since its inception and is proud to join this initiative,” said BICS head of fraud and security Katia Gonzalez.