The UK-based company, now owned by US numbering group Somos, will supply BICS, owned by Belgian operator Proximus, with global number range (GNR) services, supporting the fight against fraud in its voice offering.
BICS will also gain access to XConnect’s data solution to reduce origin-based rating surcharge losses.
Georg Vranken, head of voice and person-to-person messaging at BICS, commented: “Telecoms fraud is a global threat, requiring a global response and industry collaboration. Our partnership with XConnect has been a very positive one, based on a common belief in the need for constant innovation and investment in the fight against fraud.”
XConnect said its solution enables fraud management for voice routing through real-time detection and blocking of high-cost A numbers – the number where a call originated.
Eli Katz (pictured), CEO of XConnect, explained how fraudsters carry out this crime in a recent Capacity feature. The fraud essentially involves substituting a caller’s calling line information (CLI) with a false CLI, making it appear as though the call originates in another country.
This relies on fraudulent companies using unallocated high-cost numbers.
The partnership allows BICS to harness XConnect’s centralised numbering intelligence solution to enhance its voice and fraud offerings.
Tim Ward, VP of number information services at XConnect, said: “To overcome this growing challenge, carriers have to explore new ways to combat sophisticated levels of fraud and take a holistic approach to identifying and mitigating emerging risks across their networks.”
BICS has already been working with XConnect for five years, and offers a roaming solution to its own clients, with access to more than 800 mobile networks worldwide for consumers and internet of things (IoT) applications. Its roaming solution serves more than 220 mobile operators and 1.2 billion consumers and IoT devices around the world.
Ward said: “The quality of our GNR data has been recognised by BICS, enabling it to further strengthen its voice routing and fraud solutions. Together, we are committed to the success of our strategic partnership and will continue to develop and refine our offering to give carriers increased visibility into their traffic.”
Somos, which was known as SMS/800 until 2015, is the administrator for the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), which covers all fixed and mobile phone numbers in Canada, the US and its territories, and some Caribbean countries.
