CCA Convention discusses how illegal robocalls compromise communications; iconectiv stresses need to protect the legitimate as well as block the fake

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. – September 17, 2019 – Attendees at this year’s CCA Convention will benefit from a full update on the latest developments in the battle against illegal robocalls. Glenn Reynolds, Head of Government and Industry Affairs at iconectiv, will be among several industry stakeholders to highlight policy-related issues, including the progress being made in scam and spam robocall mitigation, one of the top issues impacting carriers today and a key focus of the 116th Congress during its first nine months. Other panellists include Maribeth Collins, Senior Director of Legislative Affairs for CCA, Ansley Erdel, Executive Vice President for Alpine Group, and Jim Goldwater, Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs for National Association of Tower Erectors.

Advances in VoIP technology have made illegal robocalls a worldwide issue, with some 85 billion calls made globally in 2018. In the U.S., if calls come from an unidentified or unfamiliar number, as many as 76% are left unanswered, meaning millions of legitimate calls are being missed because consumers are wary of potentially fake calls. Reynolds and other industry experts will tell the convention how this situation is compromising the way we communicate.

The U.S. is taking the lead in tackling the scourge, with the FCC-endorsed ATIS-SIP Forum SHAKEN (Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs). SHAKEN is the collaborative industry-wide solution to tackling illegal robocalls while not impacting legitimate calls. SHAKEN is designed to help ensure the integrity of the phone number by allowing service providers to confirm that the caller has the legitimate right to use the number.  This is done through digital certificates and verification of the origination of the call.

iconectiv, the authoritative partner of the communications industry, will serve as the Secure Telephone Identity Policy Administrator (STI-PA) in the U.S. As the STI-PA, iconectiv will confirm which service providers are authorized to request certificates, and review and approve Certificate Authorities to issue them.

The success of the U.S. initiative is being closely watched by other telecommunications administrations and regulators globally.

• The 2019 CCA Convention takes place from September 16-18, 2019 in Providence, Rhode Island
• Capitol Hill Update: Wednesday, September 18 from 2:30-3:30 PM ET, Session 304, Room 553, 5th Floor

CCA’s Annual Convention is the only North American event to focus exclusively on smart strategies, technology innovations, and business opportunities for carriers in an increasingly mobile world. As a result, it brings together more senior decision makers from more carrier organizations than any other tradeshow in the United States. For more information please visit CCA Convention.