AT&T and Comcast tout industry first to tackle robocalls

AT&T and Comcast said that they can authenticate calls made between the two different phone providers' networks, a potential industry first and the latest in the long-running battle against spam calls. AT&T and Comcast have successfully completed a real-world call authentication test using the STIR/SHAKEN protocols across landline networks. The STIR/SHAKEN protocols were developed by industry groups ATIS and SIP Forum to tackle the issue of phone spamming and robocalls. The protocols use digital certificates to ensure the incoming phone number is coming from the proper device. Operators obtain a digital certificate from a third-party certificate authority, which is then used to ensure that a phone call is originating from a device that is registered to that number.