T-Mobile debuts free robocall-fighting service
Published Date: 7/16/2020
Source: axios.com
T-Mobile announced Thursday it will offer ScamShield, a free scam-blocking service, to all T-Mobile, Metro and Sprint customers.Why it matters: Robocalls remain the scourge of the industry, with billions of unwanted calls pummeling customers last year."People are being robbed. People are being scammed," CEO Mike Sievert said on a call with reporters on Thursday. And, yet, he said some rivals make customers pay for spam protection, calling out Verizon for charging many customers $7.99 per month for the service. "This industry shouldn’t be profiting from this phenomenon," Sievert said.The big picture: T-Mobile's moves are a mix of industry-wide efforts as well as things it is doing on its own, including:Using network patterns to identify spam calls and allowing users to get a warning or, if they choose, block such calls from ringing.Offering customers a free second phone number they can give out to businesses so they can save their main number for their close friends (or vice versa).Allowing customers to change their number if they are getting too many spam calls.Free ID monitoring and alerts from McAfee."This is no easy task, but we're making real headway," network head Neville Ray said on the call.Meanwhile: Sievert and Ray said the company is ahead of schedule on its 5G rollout, including turning on the mid-band spectrum it acquired as part of its Sprint deal. T-Mobile already uses low-band spectrum to cover much of the country with 5G service, but the mid-band spectrum allows for faster speeds than are possible with low-band 5G.