Policy framework to streamline illegal international voice call termination

Abstract

Telecommunication service providers around the world lose billions of dollars annually due to various fraudulent activities. Illegal call termination, which is also know and SIMBox fraud and extreme IDD usage related to International Revenue Share Fraud (ISRF) are identified as two of most challenging telecommunication frauds prevalent in the world, which causes a considerable percentage of revenue loss. These fraudulent activities not only deteriorate the operator revenue but also it degrades the customer experience. This is considered as a national issue, due to which the country loses revenue as tax revenue loss and faces security concerns as these calls bypass lawful intercept systems. Having no common platform to address this issue is a problem prevailing in many countries. Therefore, as a solution for this, a common framework is proposed, where all the operators in a country can inter-work, with the proper intervention of regulatory body of the country. The relevant work was reviewed with a literature survey and the gaps were identified. The drawbacks in the current process were identified via a census carried out among the mobile operators in the country and with a focus group discussion with the regulatory body. The different aspects for the framework were outlined by analyzing the data gathered and a centralized system for IDD fraudulent number tracking was designed where a proper coordination within the operators and the regulatory body can be achieved. ISRF related suspected number sharing mechanism was introduced using the common platform. A common framework was established as the output, where identified issues can be minimized. The common framework consists of three major aspects. Establishing a centralized system for IFDD fraudulent number tracking, adding reforms to the existing regulations, and increasing user awareness are the three aspects covered with the proposed common framework. With the proposed centralized system and it is possible to achieve higher revenue and lower fraudulent activities within a country with an increased IDD call quality.