Mitigating Illegal Robocalling Advances with Secure Telephone Identity Governance Authority Board’s Selection of iconectiv as Policy Administrator
WASHINGTON, DC —The Secure Telephone Identity Governance Authority (STI-GA), operating under the auspices of ATIS, today announced the selection of iconectiv as the U.S. STI Policy Administrator (STI-PA), a critical role in industry efforts to mitigate illegal robocalling.
As the STI-PA, iconectiv will apply and enforce the rules as defined by the STI-GA to operationalize the SHAKEN (Signature-based Handling of Asserted information using toKENs) framework. SHAKEN specifies a practical mechanism for service providers to authenticate calls and let consumers know that the information displayed on their caller ID is accurate. The STI-PA will apply and enforce mechanisms designed to ensure that STI certificates are only available to authorized service providers based on rules defined by the STI-GA. As the STI-PA, iconectiv will also ensure that STI Certification Authorities (STI-CAs) perform all security functions specified to maintain the integrity of the SHAKEN framework.
“The selection of iconectiv as STI-PA is a major milestone in putting SHAKEN into action, a top industry priority critical to restoring trust in the voice network,” said ATIS President and CEO Susan Miller. “Through ATIS, the industry has come together to achieve this common goal.”
“The industry-led STI-GA Board is excited to announce the selection of iconectiv as the Policy Administrator,” STI-GA Chair Linda Vandeloop of AT&T said. “iconectiv has an excellent reputation within the industry and we felt they were the right choice to advance the work to implement SHAKEN this year.”
“This is a critical building block in keeping the integrity of the phone number and we are energized to be part of this collaborative initiative that puts the value of phone calls back in the hands of Americans,” said Richard Jacowleff, President and CEO, iconectiv. “With this FCC-endorsed, industry-led initiative, service providers will be able to more readily confirm legitimate calls and trace and block illegitimate ones so that consumers can, once again, enjoy answering calls with confidence.”
With the selection of iconectiv as the STI-PA, the STI-GA has completed the initial establishment of the STI-GA ecosystem as contemplated by the FCC’s North American Numbering Council (NANC) Call Authentication Trust Anchor Working Group. This ecosystem is expected to be operational by the end of 2019.
About the STI-GA
The Secure Telephone Identity Governance Authority (STI-GA) is the industry-led effort to support the timely deployment of the STIR/SHAKEN protocol and framework. The STI-GA Board consists of representatives from the following stakeholders:
- Chair – Linda Vandeloop, AT&T
- Vice Chair – Glenn Clepper, Charter Communications; appointed by NCTA – The Internet & Television Association
- Clinton Lee, Jackson Energy Authority; appointed by the America’s Communications Association
- Nathan Sutter, Nex-Tech Wireless; appointed by the Competitive Carriers Association
- Indra Chalk, T-Mobile; appointed by CTIA
- Greg Rogers, Bandwidth; appointed by INCOMPAS
- Dave Frigen, Wabash Communications; appointed by NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association
- Chris Oatway, Verizon; appointed by US Telecom
- Gunnar Halley, Microsoft; appointed by the VON Coalition
- Michael Starkey, QSI Consulting, Inc.; appointed by Western Telecommunications Alliance and TEXALTEL
- Tim Kagele, Comcast
- Darah Franklin, Google
Learn more about the industry-led STI-GA and its critical contributions toward combatting illegal robocalling.
About ATIS
As a leading technology and solutions development organization, the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) brings together the top global ICT companies to advance the industry’s business priorities. ATIS’ 150 member companies are currently addressing illegal robocall mitigation, 5G, Smart Cities, artificial intelligence-enabled networks, distributed ledger/blockchain technology, cybersecurity, IoT, emergency services, quality of service, billing support, operations, and much more. These priorities follow a fast-track development lifecycle – from design and innovation through standards, specifications, requirements, business use cases, software toolkits, open source solutions, and interoperability testing.
ATIS is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). ATIS is the North American Organizational Partner for the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a founding Partner of the oneM2M global initiative, a member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), as well as a member of the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL). For more information, visit www.atis.org. Follow ATIS on Twitter and on LinkedIn.