ComReg has participated in a meeting with international regulators to find ways to combat nuisance communications. For the first time, ComReg joined with regulators from Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, and the USA and thanked the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, for hosting.
ComReg was represented by its Chairperson, Robert Mourik. He joined fellow regulators from the Australian Communications and Media Authority, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, the Office of the Communication Authority in Hong Kong and the Federal Communications Commission in the United States of America at the Ottawa meeting on 31st October 2022.
There was a positive discussion about how greater international collaboration could be harnessed to combat nuisance communications. One important outcome of the meeting was that the five regulators agreed to engage with other regulatory agencies in jurisdictions which are known sources of or experiencing the scourge that is nuisance communications.
ComReg Chairperson, Robert Mourik said:
“Scam communications impacts consumers and businesses. The Nuisance Communications Industry Taskforce in Ireland is a key element for effective local interventions and for them to be successful, we require global collaboration for what is a global problem. This underlines the importance of coordinating what we do internationally, learning from each other and doing our part in disrupting these criminal activities.”
For its part, ComReg is actively working to mitigate nuisance communications in Ireland in the following ways:
- Since early 2022 ComReg and the telecoms industry have worked together to tackle the problem of nuisance communications. The Nuisance Communications Industry Taskforce (NCIT), which includes ComReg and fixed and mobile telecoms operators, meets regularly to discuss what interventions are needed and how to implement them.
- A recent “Do Not Originate” (DNO) trial conducted by ComReg and small number of telecoms operators was very effective – thousands of calls presenting as coming from numbers on the trial DNO List were blocked. Following the successful trial, ComReg and industry agreed to a wider implementation of DNO, which is now launched with immediate effect. ComReg urges all telecoms operators to implement blocking of DNO numbers without delay, to protect Irish consumers and businesses.
- ComReg published an Information Notice on DNO (ComReg 22/86), a Guidance Note and Application Form (ComReg 22/86a), and a dedicated webpage at comreg.ie/dno where further information is available.
ComReg appreciates the work of the NCIT to date and looks forward to further mutual engagement on initiatives to protect Irish consumers and businesses from phone scams.
