There is good news for telcos that realize call validation must be consistently executed across borders if it is to have any impact on the vast majority of frauds that start in one country but end in another. The One Consortium, the nascent nonprofit association for telcos and regulators that want to harmonize rules for international call validation, has been invited to the big Global Fraud Summit organized by the UK government in March. The Global Fraud Summit is expected to take a similar approach to the AI Safety Summit hosted by the UK government in November 2023. The AI Safety Summit resulted in a series of commitments from governments and industry leaders; a similar burst of new pledges would supercharge the anti-fraud efforts already being taken by leading telcos, banks and internet platforms.
The good news does not stop there. The Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications (BIPT) has reportedly committed to joining the One Consortium. Whilst it is always encouraging to hear about telcos working together on fraud mitigation, it is essential that rules imposed on telcos carrying international traffic are consistent from one end to the other. The USA, Canada and France have already jeopardized the chances of international cooperation on call validation by choosing to go it alone, implementing national validation systems and governance in a manner that other countries were bound to find unacceptable. We now desperately need the majority of countries to reach agreement on how they will support each other.
The US and Canadian regulators keep boasting of their determination to work together, but their systems are so fragile that they are only now trialing the validation of calls between their countries. This comes three years after their systems were implemented, and with the US system still only working end-to-end for one-third of calls within the country. Meanwhile, the French have missed the deadline for implementing their system, which is not interoperable with those in the USA and Canada. However, each country continues to talk as if foreign telcos will all become subject to the systems and governance they mandated at a national level.
I asked Philippe Millet, Chairman of the i3forum and one of the prime movers behind the One Consortium (pictured) how he felt about BIPT joining the consortium and about his participation in the upcoming summit in the UK. This what he had to say.
This latest invitation from the UK government shows the One Consortium is seen as an important contributor to the fight against fraud and nuisance communications. This new Global Fraud Summit will bring together governments, industry and law enforcement from around the world so that we can all coordinate action against scammers. We are grateful to Tom Tugendhat MP, Minister of State for Security, for acknowledging the importance of the role to be played by international telecommunications providers. The One Consortium, working with regulatory authorities globally, is ready to step up and deliver the common program for anti-fraud action everyone needs.
Confirmation by the Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications (BIPT) of their decision to participate reinforces the momentum we have attained in the short time since we began work on the Restore Trust program, and on the One Consortium. It is recognition of the importance of the carriers and regulators that have already committed to working together. We are gaining more momentum all the time, and will carry this into our participation in the fraud prevention workshop of the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) scheduled for later this year.
The broad coalition being constructed by the One Consortium is even more impressive when you consider how rapidly it has evolved. The consortium is an offshoot of the widely-respected i3Forum, the club for international wholesale carriers, but is open to a much broader range of members, and will charge no membership fees. One Consortium is technically still in its pre-launch phase, with telcos and regulators already engaging in dialogue about call validation prior to the finalization of the One Consortium’s legal incorporation. The first open meeting of this group only occurred in September 2023 but they have already brought together more key players focused on tackling telecoms fraud than older institutions accomplished through years of discussing how to collaborate across borders. Let us hope they keep up this tremendous rate of progress.
Look here for more information about the One Consortium and to apply for membership.
