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Back in 2024, AT&T struck a partnership with TransUnion to launch the latter’s Branded Call Display service. This service allows opted-in businesses to have their brand name and logo displayed on customer handsets when receiving calls, thereby helping customers to identify scam callers posing as legitimate businesses.
Now, the service is going one step further, with the latest feature allowing businesses to include the reason for their call on the on-screen notification. Businesses must seemingly choose their reason for calling from a wide range of preset options, including “Appointment Reminder,” “Customer Inquiry,” “Customer Service,” “Refill Reminder,” “Delivery Service,” “Patient Callback,” and “Upcoming Visit”.
The service is available on “most Android devices” and does not require an app to use, being part of the industry standard STIR/SHAKEN call authentication.
“We’re excited to announce the ability for businesses to add the reason for their call to the mobile display,” said Erin Scarborough, AT&T senior vice president, Mass Markets Product Management. “Research shows consumers still prefer calling for communicating with businesses – especially for urgent, personal, or high-value issues. Now they can safely answer verified branded calls, knowing who’s calling and why.”
Spam calls remain a major issue for the telecoms sector. According to spam protection company Truecaller, US customers experience roughly 3.3 billion spam or unwanted calls every month. As such, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been taking increasingly strict measures to prevent spam calls in recent years, with mixed results.
Are telcos doing enough to protect their customers from spam and fraudulent calls? Join the discussion at Connected America, live in Dallas, Texas
Also in the news:
Vodafone reports strong Q3 growth amid Germany challenges
CEO of AireBeam discusses ‘secret sauce’ behind ISP’s growth
BT scraps managerial DEI targets
Here is a series of news bytes covering regional infrastructure expansion projects from this week: … [visit site to read more]
Interesting news items from Europe, southeast Asia, and the Middle East from the past several days: … [visit site to read more]
By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
Since taking the helm as the CEO of an Arizona City-based AireBeam, Ben Elkins has overseen a 375 percent growth in fiber subscribers for the ISP.
Now, Elkins is attempting to repeat success at another subsidiary of the Boston Omaha Corporation: Utah Broadband.
Named as the Utah Broadband’s CEO in May, Elkins now wears both hats, one as the CEO of AireBeam, another as the CEO of Utah Broadband. He reflected on some of AireBeam’s growth, and how he was able to achieve such stunning success in Arizona’s Pinal County.
“It’s very rural, but it’s growing,” Elkins said of Pinal County. “It’s the fastest growing county in the state of Arizona.”
Wedged between Phoenix and Tuscon, Elkins said it came to his attention after research that many of the county’s mobile home parks were severely underserved.
“So, I went out and got nationwide deals with a lot of the mobile home park developers,” he said. “And provided fiber to the parks that really fit or demographics and fit our profile.”
Elkins said he was able to lock in 20-year agreements with some developers.
According to Elkins, many mobile home parks are ignored by larger service providers because residents are often temporary.
“It’s been a huge hit for us,” he said, adding that AireBeam also “fibered up” the entire community of Arizona City and Florence.
While Elkins said the explosive-type growth that AireBeam saw was likely unique due to demographics in the area, he also predicts growth ahead for Utah Broadband.
Click here to listen to the full interview with Elkins on Spotify, and why he believes Utah still contains “huge opportunity” for Utah Broadband.
To hear the episode featuring Elkins on Apple Podcasts, click here.
Learn more about Broadband Communities Summit 2025 in Houston.
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There has been some consolidation activity in the fiber last mile this week. Gateway Fiber and WANRack have announced plans to merge into a national FTTX platform touching 25 states. … [visit site to read more]
The company has told its major investors that it will replace the DEI section of its managerial bonus scorecard with a “measure of employee engagement,” which will come into effect in April.
Currently, ten percent of the BT annual bonus for its 37,400 managers is made up of DEI targets, comprised of representation of women, disabled people and ethnic minorities, as well as employee engagement of underrepresented groups.
“We remain committed to our inclusion and representation targets and are making good progress towards them. Inclusion will remain part of our senior management bonus calculations and we have received strong support from our shareholders on the proposals to amend our group scorecard,” said a BT spokesperson.
Just last week, Kirkby told employees in a company memo “It’s been hard lately to see companies and governments stepping back from their commitment to inclusion, equity and diversity. For many of you watching this unfold, I imagine it feels worrying and upsetting.
“It sends the message that these things are optional, temporary or not worth prioritising. I want to be absolutely clear: that’s not what we believe at BT.”
The news comes as President Trump signed an Executive Order the day after his inauguration, terminating DEI initiatives in federal contracting. Similar initiatives have been rolled other large corporations, including Meta and Amazon in the tech sector and Walmart, McDonald’s, Ford Motors, and Target in other sectors.
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Also in the news:
Nokia and AT&T extend voice core partnership
UK PM urges for more European cooperation as suspicious subsea activity increases
From the bully pulpit: FCC’s Carr could pursuade allies over new subsea cable regulation
Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.
A new data center, a new subsea cable, a new branch, and some FTTH: … [visit site to read more]
