T-Mobile and Sprint customers no longer have to worry about cross-network robocalls, according to a recent announcement from the former company. Namely, the two companies have now partnered to end number-spoofing, scams, and robocalls to or from their respective networks. That means that all Sprint or T-Mobile — or related MVNO — users should no longer receive the overwhelming bulk of those calls from the others’ network.
Summarily, calls made between the two carriers will now be verified for authenticity. The network will now check that the phone number in question is really from the number listed on the caller ID display. On incoming call numbers that aren’t, users will now see those calls blocked or at a minimum be warned about the threat.
For calls that can be verified, users will see a “caller verified” message on incoming calls.
For T-Mobile, Sprint arrives fourth in line on robocalls
T-Mobile’s cross-network solution actually started with Comcast Xfinity Voice home phone service back in April of 2019. Between that first implementation and now, the self-proclaimed ‘uncarrier’ has also teamed up with AT&T Wireless and Inteliquent. That places Sprint fourth in the lineup of companies T-Mobile has partnered with to end robocalls for customers.
That follows the provider’s first implementation of Caller Verified technology, kicked off with an update to the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. Now, T-Mobile supports a total of 23 of the latest handsets available from the company. The company also says more are incoming in the near future.
Behind the scenes, T-Mobile’s technology is based on the US FCC’s recommended STIR/SHAKEN standards. Those were initially released alongside a stark warning that carriers needed to step up their game in stopping the annoying, often malicious calls.
To sum up the latest of T-Mobile’s implementations, the combined solution checks the origin of a given call against relevant registries. In effect, it checks that the phone call actually originates from a device and number issued by the carriers. That process happens at the network level. If the registry doesn’t match up, calls don’t make it through.
Now, the bigger benefit from T-Mobile’s latest tie-up comes for its own customers. As of this writing, the company now protects them from nearly every US mobile provider. That leaves a few loose ends in terms of landline services and, in particular, Verizon in terms of US companies. But it also benefits Sprint users and those on other cross-network protected companies.
With STIR/SHAKEN in place here, those other companies have a solid framework for forming similar alliances with others in the industry. In effect, they’re gaining a head-start to follow in T-Mobile’s footsteps.
This makes sense to get in place ahead of the uncertain merger
T-Mobile decided to partner with Sprint late in the game. But that may be tied in with uncertainty about the finalization of a merger between the two carriers. Recent news about the merger has been mostly positive. The deal was facing opposition from several states within the US and some of those have begun rescinding any contest against the merger.
T-Mobile and Sprint have promised to hold off finalization in spite of government approval. More directly, it has agreed to remain separate until the remaining states are on-board with the proposed deal. Staving off robocalls between the two companies makes sense since there’s no guarantee the deal will ultimately go through.