Robocall Volume Rises as Network Coverage Stalls

TransNexus’s latest report reveals a 3.7% increase in robocall activity and a slight dip in authenticated call completion, highlighting the ongoing technical hurdles in the fight against spoofing.

The latest data from TransNexus reveals a two steps forward, one step back trend in the STIR/SHAKEN call authentication environment.

For organizations that rely on reaching consumers via phone, these statistics underscore the importance of voice service providers’ high A-level attestation status and monitoring how terminating carriers perceive their calls.

The report assesses the STIR/SHAKEN framework, a suite of standards used to verify that the caller ID matches the actual caller’s number on IP networks.

Robocall Volume On the Rise

After a relatively quiet start to the year, robocall activity increased in February, according to the report.

• Overall Increase: Robocalls as a percentage of all calls rose by 3.7% compared to January.
• The Attestation Gap: While robocalls signed with C-level (gateway) and B-level (partial) attestation increased (up 1.9% and 3.1%, respectively), those signed with A-level (full) attestation decreased by 1.5%.
• Industry Impact: This is a positive trend for legitimate financial callers. It suggests that bad actors are finding it slightly harder to obtain the highest level of trust (Attestation A), making verified calls stand out more to carrier analytics.

As a refresher, authentication relies on three levels of attestation:

• Level A: The provider knows the customer and their right to use the number.
• Level B: The provider knows the customer but not their right to use the number.
• Level C: The provider is merely the entry point for a call originated elsewhere (e.g., an international gateway).

Carrier Participation is Growing, but Coverage is Stalled

The infrastructure for trusted calling continues to expand, yet technical hurdles remain, TransNexus reports.

• New Signers: The number of service providers authorized to sign calls grew by 3.2%, and the number of providers observed signing calls increased by 2.9%.
• The IP Gap: Despite more carriers joining the framework, the percentage of signed calls that successfully reached their destination with the signature intact dropped slightly to 44.5%. TransNexus attributes this to calls being routed over older, non-IP (TDM) segments of the telephone network, where authentication data is lost.
• Why this matters: Even if callers do everything right, nearly half of their calls may still lose their verified status before reaching the consumer.

Prolific Robocallers are Using A-Level Attestation

In a trend for legitimate enterprises to watch, the top 10 most prolific robocall-signing providers are still heavily utilizing the highest trust levels, according to TransNexus.

• 83.7% of calls from these high-volume robocall originators were signed with A-level attestation.
• Strategic Advice: Because bad actors are successfully obtaining A-level status, carriers are relying more heavily on call analytics (like spam labeling) rather than just the STIR/SHAKEN signature. Financial firms should not only ensure they have A-level attestation but also actively manage their caller ID reputation to avoid spam or scam labels.

Summary for Callers

The report shows, with robocallers successfully mimicking the authentication levels of legitimate businesses, callers’ strategies must be multi-layered:

• Demand Attestation A: Ensure your voice provider is giving you full A-level attestation.
• Monitor Reputation: Regularly check your numbers against major carrier spam databases.
• Consider Branded Calling: TransNexus notes that branded calling, which displays your company name/logo, remains the most effective way to bypass authenticated robocalls and improve answer rates.

In related news, the Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau recently released its Triennial Report on the Efficacy of STIR/SHAKEN (PDF), which concludes that the framework effectively authenticates caller ID information to identify illegal spoofing when applied correctly.

This second assessment highlights both the technical successes of the framework and the ongoing challenges that industry groups, including ACA International, have actively worked to address

ACA’s Take

The FCC has focused on caller ID verification and consumer consent for communications in recent proposed rulemakings.

Overall, the FCC proposal published in the Federal Register includes steps to improve the availability and accuracy of caller identification information and changes to Telephone Consumer Protection Act rules, including the revocation of consent.

The commission proposes to enhance the effectiveness of STIR/SHAKEN call authentication by requiring voice service providers to transmit verified caller names or other caller identity information to consumers receiving the call, so they can better determine whether to answer.

ACA’s comments in response to the proposal (PDF) included support for the transition to RCD technology that displays a caller’s name, logo, and reason for the call, or call branding. However, for RCD to be effective, the FCC must ensure originating voice providers verify that the caller has the legal right to use the name and logo being displayed. Without this, bad actors could easily impersonate legitimate businesses.

A primary focus of ACA’s January 2026 comments is urging the FCC to finalize the elimination of the “revoke all” requirement. This rule currently mandates that a consumer’s request to stop one type of communication (e.g., a text about a specific debt) must be treated as a revocation of consent for all communications from that entity, including critical fraud alerts or account updates.

The FCC has pushed the effective date of its consent revocation rule to Jan. 31, 2027.

Regarding call authentication, ACA supports measures to combat spoofing but warns against “over-blocking” legitimate calls, such as those from health care providers or financial institutions.

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