T-Mobile and Sprint Work Together to Protect Customers from Scam Calls

Cross-network STIR/SHAKEN rollout helps stop number-spoofing, keeping consumers safer from scammers

• What’s the news: T-Mobile and Sprint are delivering number verification to better protect customers against scams and unwanted robocalls with new cross-network protection built on STIR/SHAKEN standards.
• Why it matters: Scams and unwanted robocalls are an industry-wide problem, and it takes wireless companies joining forces and working together to keep consumers better protected. Implementing STIR/SHAKEN standards across networks is important progress towards industry-wide call verification.
• Who it’s for: Anyone who is tired of the growing number of unwanted robocalls and scams. (Everyone.)

BELLEVUE, Wash. & OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) and Sprint (NYSE: S) today announced they’re delivering STIR/SHAKEN number-verification across networks, an important step in the industry’s ongoing fight against unwanted scam and spam calls. The new anti-robocalling feature is currently rolling out to T-Mobile and Sprint customers and will give customers peace of mind that calls from the Sprint network to the T-Mobile network (and vice versa) are really coming from the number listed on their caller ID display and are not being spoofed.

“We’re in an arms race with these scammers, and we’ve got to join forces as an industry to keep all wireless customers protected,” said John Legere, CEO of T-Mobile. “We were first to announce readiness for STIR/SHAKEN, first to implement Caller Verified, and today we lead the industry with the most cross-network STIR/SHAKEN partnerships to keep consumers better protected. T-Mobile will keep innovating and delivering on the frontlines in the battle against unwanted calls, and we won’t stop.”

”While all carriers compete fiercely in the marketplace, we all agree that the industry-wide plague of robocalls and scammers must be tackled arm-in-arm with other carriers as we put the latest technology to work to help protect our customers,” said Sprint CEO Michel Combes. “STIR/SHAKEN is one tool among many that Sprint is utilizing in a multi-year anti-robocalling development program to improve our customers’ experience.”

T-Mobile was first to announce readiness for the FCC-recommended STIR/SHAKEN standards in November 2018 and first in the wireless industry to implement STIR/SHAKEN when it launched Caller Verified on the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 in January 2019. T-Mobile leads the industry in STIR/SHAKEN implementation and now works across four networks: Comcast Xfinity Voice home phone service, AT&T Wireless, Inteliquent and Sprint. As more network providers across the industry implement the standards and more device providers participate, more calls will be verified over time, keeping consumers better protected.

As part of today’s news, T-Mobile also announced that Caller Verified is now operable across 23 smartphones, with more coming soon. Customers with these devices and the latest software update will automatically see “Caller Verified” on their screens for non-spoofed calls from the T-Mobile and Sprint networks.

With work already underway with additional providers, Sprint’s collaboration with T-Mobile is one of several roll outs of STIR/SHAKEN technology to improve protection from robocalls and scammers for Sprint customers. Sprint also offers customers Sprint Call Screener Basic, a free service that identifies unwanted malicious calls and permits users to block them, and the more feature-rich Sprint Call Screener Plus premium service. In addition to the services provided by the free service, Sprint Call Screen Plus also displays a texter’s name or a caller’s name, city and state, even those not listed in contacts; identifies, blocks, and reports calls that are lower-risk, but still a nuisance; categorizes incoming calls as spam, robocalls or fraud calls; reports an individual phone number as spam; and keeps history of blocked and risky numbers.

The FCC has recommended STIR/SHAKEN standards to digitally ensure that a call is in fact from the number displayed on Caller ID. The acronym stands for Secure Telephone Identity Revisited (STIR) and Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using toKENs (SHAKEN). STIR/SHAKEN, along with other tools such as the use of reasonable analytics, is key to the battle against unwanted robocalls and fraud.

For more information on all the ways T-Mobile is protecting customers, visit https://www.t-mobile.com/resources/call-protection.

For Metro by T-Mobile customers, more information is available at https://www.metropcs.com/shop/services/protection.

For more information on how Sprint is protecting customers, visit: https://www.sprint.com/en/shop/services/screener.html?INTNAV=Newsroom:CallScreener

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About T-Mobile US, Inc.

As America's Un-carrier, T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) is redefining the way consumers and businesses buy wireless services through leading product and service innovation. Our advanced nationwide 4G LTE network delivers outstanding wireless experiences to 84.2 million customers who are unwilling to compromise on quality and value. Based in Bellevue, Washington, T-Mobile US provides services through its subsidiaries and operates its flagship brands, T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile. For more information, please visit http://www.t-mobile.com.

About Sprint

Sprint (NYSE: S) is a communications services company that creates more and better ways to connect its customers to the things they care about most. Sprint served 54.2 million connections as of December 31, 2019 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; leading no-contract brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Today, Sprint’s legacy of innovation and service continues with an increased investment to dramatically improve coverage, reliability, and speed across its nationwide network and commitment to launching a 5G mobile network in the U.S. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.