Spam calls no more: STIR/SHAKEN will be implemented by end of month, says CRTC chair

Canada’s telecom giants have until November 30th to help customers validate the legitimacy of a caller.

Ian Scott, the chair of the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), shared the news at the Canadian Telecom Summit on November 15th. He explained the change will allow a provider to determine if a caller ID can be trusted by verifying them.

“Bad actors who have no interest in following the rules [and] have been contributing to an erosion of confidence in the telecommunications system,” he said in his speech.

Scott told the CBC more than 25 percent of calls made are robocalls.

STIR/SHAKEN technology, a framework that authenticates caller ID, will be used.

Secure Telephony Information Revisited, or STIR for short, allows carriers to validate a caller. Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information using Tokens (SHAKEN) is the framework that’s utilized by network providers.

The deadline to implement the change has been expanded in the past. Originally set for March 2019, the deadline was extended to September 2020, and again to June 2021. The change will be effective at the end of the month.

According to the CBC, caller IDs could come up with a red or green light, showing if the ID has been verified or not.

Scott shared Bell has applied to permanently block calls the network labels as scammers so the call never reaches the customer. “Bell has been testing this technology over the past two years and it has blocked more than 1.1 billion calls—that’s billion, with a B—between July 2020 and October 2021,” he said in his speech.

Bell told MobileSyrup the company has improved its IP-enabled wireless and wireline networks and expedited the delivery and testing of authentication equipment in preparation for the deadline.

“Bell supports the CRTC’s various efforts to protect Canadians from the harmful effects of nuisance, fraud, and misidentified voice calling, including the November 30 implementation of STIR/SHAKEN, just one of many such protective measures,” said Bell to MobileSyrup in a statement.

Rogers also told MobileSyrup that the carrier is on track to roll out the feature by the end of the month.

We’ve reached out to Freedom Mobile for more information regarding if the carrier will meet the deadline.

Update 18/11/2021 9:15am ET: Telus told MobileSyrup they will meet the implementation date and have a number of tools to help customers protect their privacy. This includes a call control feature that blocks most autodialed calls and an educational program focusing on internet and smartphone security.

Source: CBC