Since being introduced via the TRACED Act, STIR/SHAKEN has been a key driver in the telecom industry’s fight against robocalls. The STIR/SHAKEN framework is the telecom industry’s standard call authentication technology. It provides carriers’ subscribers with peace of mind that callers are who they...
Americans received more than 16 billion political calls in Q1 2024
Over the first three months of 2024, Americans received more than 16 billion political robocalls. The unwanted calls, which ranged from AI deepfake election disinformation campaigns to financially motivated scams and more traditional nuisance...
FCC, New Hampshire AG issue warning letters on AI-generated political calls
In the wake of the 2023 deadline for implementing the anti-robocall STIR/SHAKEN call authentication framework, more U.S. calls than ever are being authenticated as to their legitimacy—that is, whether they are actually coming from...
Artificial intelligence is being explored to improve customer service with smarter chatbots, dispatch network technicians more efficiently and automate simple, highly manual network operations tasks. It's also being co-opted by bad actors to fuel smarter robocall and text scams, according to Transaction Network Services....
The STIR/SHAKEN call authentication framework is helping to reduce the overall volume of unwanted spam and scam robocalls, according to Transaction Network Services' newly released annual report on robocall trends.
Between STIR/SHAKEN being more widely implemented and regulatory enforcement actions in 2022, unwanted robocalls...
As the coronavirus pandemic has evolved and new data emerges, we know COVID-19 poses a risk to everyone regardless of age and gender. That said, the health risk to older adults is high: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report eight out of 10 coronavirus deaths in the US have occurred in adults 65 and older.
Communicating the health risks...
Mandate comes as part of implementing the TRACED Act
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has proposed mandatory implementation of the STIR/SHAKEN call authentication framework to fight unwanted robocalls, in line with recently passed federal legislation.
If adopted, the mandate would require voice service providers to...
More than 300 million unwanted robocalls are sent to Americans each day
Despite ongoing efforts by industry and regulators to stem the flood of unwanted robocalls, a Transaction Network Services report has found that the number of such robocalls jumped by 49% from 2018 to...
As a bipartisan bill to combat robocalls head to President Donald Trump's desk, the Federal Communications Commission and the Canadian Radiotelevision and Telecommunications Commission continue to pursue broader deployment of a standards-based call authentication framework designed to help better identify -- and hopefully, reduce...
Only about 40% of mobile phone users want their carriers to automatically block all calls from numbers not in their contacts list -- but that number nearly doubles for calls highly suspected to be spam, according to a new survey from Transaction Network Services.
TNS...
In a move to fight growing concern over robocalls, Sprint struck a deal with TNS’ Cequint subsidiary to develop enhanced caller ID solution
Sprint is looking to tackle growing concerns over unwanted “robocalls” through a new agreement with Transaction Network Services subsidiary Cequint.
The partnership calls...
Huawei discusses ways in which rural and regional wireless operators can increase broadband access using hybrid network models
Rural broadband connectivity remains a significant challenge for mobile operators faced with trying to conceive of business models allowing for broad network deployments of advanced technology in...
Regional carrier joins TNS LTE Roaming Hub; gains access to CCA Data Services Hub, which also includes T-Mobile and Sprint
Oklahoma-based regional wireless operator Pioneer Cellular is set to support LTE roaming for its customers through an agreement with Transaction Network Services.
The deal sees Pioneer...
T-Mobile US move could bolster carrier’s rural coverage, expand LTE opportunities for rural operators
T-Mobile US expanded its presence at the Competitive Carriers Association with the nation’s No. 3 operator joining CCA’s Data Services Hub.
CCA said T-Mobile US joins more than a dozen rural and...
Verizon Wireless (VZ) continued its push for consumer privacy announcing a deal with online telephone directory Phonebooks.com to stop providing information associated with cell phone numbers of Verizon Wireless customers. The carrier hinted that the deal could be temporary as the two parties are...
Transaction Network Services Inc. (TNS) said it plans to pay $50 million to buy Cequint Inc., a Seattle-based company that offers caller ID products to mobile operators. If certain targets are met, the purchase price could potentially be as high as $112.5...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry.Do you remember back in 2005 when the term Cyber Monday was coined? Retailers noticed...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry.Those of us that spend hours a day, minutes a day, or even seconds a...
Editor's Note: Welcome to our weekly feature, Analyst Angle. We've collected a group of the industry's leading analysts to give their outlook on the hot topics in the wireless industry.Interest in prepaid providers continues to boom. TNS Compete's behavioral panel tracks the online behavior...
Over the past year wireless operators have begun populating their retail stores and Web sites with a new niche of devices, the netbook. These devices busted onto the scene last year offering dimensions, capabilities and prices somewhere between traditional laptop computers and smartphones.The explosive...
Those of us that follow the consumer electronics industry have been hearing about the promise of netbooks for quite some time now. The Consumer Electronics Association predicts the netbook category will generate $3.4 billion in 2009. It seems like every major OEM,...
If the idea of marketing Porsche sports cars on mobile handsets seems unlikely, it's for good reason: Mobile skews young, but the core Porsche demographic is more middle-age male. And pitching aspirational luxury vehicles with an entry price of $45,000 seems incongruent on a...
Marketing specialist TNS Compete launched a new service designed to examine the smartphone industry and its trends.In its inaugural report, the firm examined Apple Inc.'s iPhone. TNS Compete plans to update the smartphone survey quarterly."The iPhone has raised the bar for mobile interactivity, and...
Streaming-music service providers bought some time last week when Congress approved legislation that will allow them to renegotiate royalty rates some claim may otherwise drive them out of business. But nobody's celebrating yet.Legislators approved the Webcaster Settlement Act, which grants Internet broadcasters - including...
