Telecoms ask for delay of STIR/SHAKEN roll-out

Canada’s incumbent telecoms are asking the CRTC to delay the start date of an anti-call spoofing technology. In an Oct. 28 filing to the commission, BCE Inc., Telus Corp. and Saskatchewan Telecommunications Holding Corp. say that the STIR/SHAKEN Condition does not have an exemption for 9-1-1 calls and emergency callbacks. The system is scheduled to roll out Nov. 30. “Given the potential for misidentified or dropped 9-1-1 calls, we respectfully request that the Commission defer the application of the STIR/SHAKEN Condition to all 9-1-1 calling from end-users to PSAPs as well as Callbacks from PSAPs to end-users until standards are developed and finalized and adopted by the vendor community in both the telecommunications and emergency communications fields,” the firms write. The CRTC issued a decision in June that requires telecom service providers to establish next generation 9-1-1 . “Once the STIR/SHAKEN Condition became applicable to NG9-1-1 voice calling, on 14 June 2021, in effect a regulatory void crystalized,” the filing states. Discussions between the commission and the Emergency Services Working Group have been ongoing since the release of the CRTC decision. In September the ESWG sent a letter to the commission asking the STIR/SHAKEN protocol not be applied to emergency calling and callbacks. Last month the National Emergency Number Association published NENA i3, a reference standard for the establishment of NG9-1-1. It states that further work outside of NENA is required to support capabilities for received emergency calls and originated emergency callbacks. No standards have been published by NENA on when PSAP standards will support STIR/SHAKEN. The telecoms point out that 9-1-1 is not a globally routable number. Also clouding the issue is that while E9-1-1 networks use telephony, NG9-1-1 relies on IP standards. STIR/SHAKEN similarly uses IP protocols. The companies worry about dropped calls requiring a callback. On a wireline network, operators can quickly re-establish connection with a caller. “However, with the advent of wireless, which does not support PSAP Call Control Features, the number of calls being prematurely dropped increased exponentially as the number of wireless devices increase due to pocket dials, loss of signal, etc.,” the filing reads. “Emergency Callback became an important capability to PSAPs largely because of wireless.” Telecoms are required to decommission their existing 9-1-1 networks by March 2025 or earlier. Applying STIR/SHAKEN to E9-1-1 would divert resources from goal of establishing the NG9-1-1 platform. “Given that it could take one to two years before standards for applying STIR/SHAKEN to legacy platforms may be finalized and incorporated into vendor products, if at all, any resources diverted toward attempting to apply the STIR/SHAKEN framework to legacy E9-1-1 services would have been largely wasted,” the firms conclude. The companies are asking the commission to defer implantation to a later, unspecified date. --Reporting by Paul Park and editing by Michael Lee-Murphy at mleemurphy@thewirereport.ca

Telecoms ask for delay of STIR/SHAKEN roll-out

News | November 2, 2021

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Telecoms ask for delay of STIR/SHAKEN roll-out

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