Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) and T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS) are launching an anti-robocalling feature based on STIR (Secure Telephony Identity Revisited) and SHAKEN (Secure Handling of Asserted information using toKENs) standards to identify authentic calls across both company's networks.
The new verification feature is available now for T-Mobile customers and coming later this year for Comcast Xfinity Voice home phone service customers. T-Mobile also announced that Caller Verified, the company's implementation of STIR/SHAKEN, is now operable across 10 smartphones, with more coming soon.
"Fraudulent robocalls hurt everyone, so we want to give consumers more power to protect themselves," said Eric Schaefer, senior vice president and general manager of broadband and communications services at Comcast. "Our engineers played a key role in developing this technology for the entire industry, and we are happy to work with T-Mobile to deliver another first in the fight against fraudulent robocalls. In the coming weeks, we'll be exchanging authenticated calls with more providers across the industry as we come together to tackle this problem."
"Robocalls and spam calls are an industry-wide problem, and we've got to join forces to keep consumers protected. Today, we're the first to cross industry lines to do just that," said John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile. "We were first to announce readiness, first to implement Caller Verified, and now first to authenticate calls across networks, with Comcast. T-Mobile continues to remain on the frontlines in the battle against unwanted calls, and we won't stop."