Comcast Rolls Out STIR/SHAKEN Robocall Protection to Xfinity Voice Landline Customers

By Daniel Frankel
( NextTV )
published

The cable operator’s 11 million residential and business voice customers will now see ‘V’ displayed on their caller ID, ensuring they’re not about to pick up a spam call

The average U.S. consumer receives 350 spam calls a year, YouMail says.
(Image credit: Future)

Comcast, too, has a message for the "vehicle owner." 

Comcast has announced deployment of STIR/SHAKEN-based robocall protection to its 11 million residential and business landline voice customers. 

When receiving calls, these customers will now be able to see a “V” in their caller ID, verifying that the call is actually coming from the displayed number and not some spammer who is spoofing the ID. 

Comcast reported over 9.6 million Xfinity Voice residential customers at the end of 2020, down about 39,000 year over year, and nearly 1.4 million business voice subscribers, up about 16,000. 

The cable company has been working on STIR/SHAKEN technology for several years and says the time is right to deploy it against the backdrop of an estimated 46 billion robocalls received nationwide just in 2020 alone. In fact, citing YouMail data, Comcast said the average U.S. consumer receives 350 spam calls a year. 

“Comcast engineers helped pioneer STIR/SHAKEN and the company has been a leader in the industry-wide effort to combat fraudulent calls since day one,” said Kelly Barlow, senior VP of connectivity services for Comcast, in a statement. “We’ll continue to enable our customers with the tools to protect themselves and partner within the industry to help rid the nation’s consumers of these dangerous calls for good.”

Daniel Frankel
Daniel Frankel

Daniel Frankel is the managing editor of Next TV, an internet publishing vertical focused on the business of video streaming. A Los Angeles-based writer and editor who has covered the media and technology industries for more than two decades, Daniel has worked on staff for publications including E! Online, Electronic Media, Mediaweek, Variety, paidContent and GigaOm. You can start living a healthier life with greater wealth and prosperity by following Daniel on Twitter today!