These key milestones have shaped our interconnected world, enabling us to continue innovating our SMS and Voice services.

5th Century BCE

Carrier Pigeon: Persians credited for the ingenious use of carrier pigeons.

1838

Electrical Telegraph: Samuel B. Morse pioneers the electrical telegraph.

1876

Telephones: Alexander Graham Bell revolutionises communication with the invention of the telephone.

1893 – 1896

Wireless Radio Wave communication: Tesla and Marconi lay the foundation for wireless radio wave communication.

1927

Television: The first practical television system was demonstrated by Philo Farnsworth.

1936

Public Television Broadcasting: The BBC began regular television transmissions.

1946

Mobile Radio Telephone Service: The first commercial mobile radio telephone service was introduced in the United States.

1969

ARPANET: The precursor to the internet, ARPANET, sent its first message, marking the beginning of the digital communication era.

1973

First Mobile Phone Call: Martin Cooper places the world’s first mobile phone call.

1983

The Birth of the Internet: The internet is officially born.

1989

World Wide Web: Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, revolutionising the way information is shared and accessed.

1991

Callback Service: IDT develops the Callback service, considerably lowering call charges and revolutionising international call costs.

1992

First Text Message: Neil Papworth sends the inaugural text message on the Vodafone Network.

1998

Google Founded: The search engine giant Google was founded, significantly impacting information retrieval and online communication.

2003

Net2Phone Introduce VOIP: Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) hits the mainstream.

2003

Start of Business SMS: The first commercial mobile SMS service is launched.

2004

Facebook Launch: Facebook is launched, marking the beginning of social media communication.

2005

YouTube Launch: YouTube revolutionised video sharing and became a major platform for communication through video content.

2007

Smartphones: Apple introduced the iPhone, combining phone, media player, and internet communication in a single device.

2010

Instagram Launch: The photo-sharing platform Instagram was launched, adding a new dimension to social media communication.

2013

WhatsApp Acquisition: Facebook acquires WhatsApp, a popular messaging app, highlighting the growing importance of mobile messaging.

2014

Mobile Connections Surpass Global Population: The number of mobile connections surpasses the global population.

2016

5G Technology: The first commercial deployments of 5G technology began, promising faster and more reliable wireless communication.

2023

RCS Support: Apple announces support for RCS, further enhancing the capabilities of messaging on their devices.

The post Evolution of communication appeared first on IDT global.

BOSS Revolution customers can take advantage of this offer by purchasing the calling plan on the Boss Revolution Calling app, or at any BOSS Revolution retailers. Customers will be able to enjoy direct, crystal-clear calling, without interruption or any hidden charges.

Hossam ElMeadawy, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Etisalat Egypt by e&, said: Etisalat Egypt by e& is glad to announce the launch of a new International Voice Calling product for North America. Etisalat as the leading technology company in the Egyptian market is happy to introduce this new product to the North American market. Such a product is considered to be the most competitive and substantial retail offer available.

The new product launch is in line with our company’s strategic direction – enriching our customers’ lives and enabling them to be constantly connected to their families and friends through premium quality calls.

This promo offer would not have been accomplished without the collaboration with IDT Global, who enabled and facilitated the reach to a wider spectrum of international communities through the company’s already strong retail presence in the North American market. Etisalat Egypt by e& is looking forward to further collaboration with IDT in this market and other markets as well.

Nick Ford, President of IDT Global, added: We’re delighted to have a direct, strategic partnership with Etisalat Egypt by e& on this product. Strategic initiatives like this allow us to deliver more value to our customers by offering UNLIMITED calling plans – something that is impossible with traditional telecom pricing models. IDT and Etisalat Egypt by e& successfully collaborated by combining IDT’s deep understanding of our customers and Etisalat’s willingness to leverage our retail assets. Both parties are proud to bring a highly competitive and great value product to Egyptians in North America who want to stay in touch with their family and friends.

The post Etisalat Egypt by e& and IDT Global Jointly Launch Unlimited Calling from the USA & Canada to Egypt appeared first on IDT global.

With strengthened global number intelligence, IDT global can enhance its US customers’ voice experience with better protection from fraudulent and annoying spam calls.

“Fraud and spam are constantly changing in our business. The perpetrators are always trying to stay one step ahead and we need to keep evolving to beat them. Spoofing and illegal robocalling are increasingly commonplace and more advanced as robocallers mimic numbers from legitimate organizations. The goal is to protect our partners and end users by leveraging XConnect’s DNO data. Their data helps us to reduce the risk of illegal robocalling and to create a better overall experience.”

Peter Broes, Director of Product Management at IDT global

RealNumber DNO provided by Xconnect helps identify phone numbers which should never be used for call origination.

With this access, IDT global can now more easily identify certain invalid calls and increase the overall quality of its traffic. Updated daily, the data covers the majority of toll/local and toll-free numbers in North America giving IDT global a comprehensive and trusted added layer of defense in its role as a gateway operator.

“Robocalling impacts the entire telecoms value chain from carriers to consumers. Service providers are having to re-evaluate how they verify the identity of calls that they route and take additional steps to keep on top of compliance requirements and deliver a first-class experience to customers, By accessing our accurate and up-to-date DNO list, IDT Global can identify and block calls that originate from invalid, unallocated and unused numbers. Our work with IDT Global will enable them to reduce robocalling, increase call answer rates and route traffic with confidence.”

Tim Ward, VP Number Information Services at XConnect

This latest partnership expands XConnect and IDT global’s relationship beyond just the SMS messaging business where they have used Mobile Number Portability (MNP) data to route, optimize traffic and verify. IDT global is a leading Wholesale Voice & SMS Messaging Carrier based in the UK with offices in the US and Hong Kong as well.

The post IDT Global Selects XConnect to Help Tackle Robocalls appeared first on IDT global.

The attestation process as laid out back in 2018, gives clear guidelines on what to look for in fraud and some best practices for operators on combating the fraudulent traffic. As you can see by the low number of carriers chosen as compliant, there is still quite a lot of work to do industry wide to get ahead of the curve.

While the numbers are small, it is still good to see some very big names in the industry putting in an effort to curb this growing problem in telecommunications.

If you would like to find out more about the GLF and their efforts to combat fraud in the industry, download their free comprehensive 2022 report at: https://content.comms.euromoneyplc.com/GLF-2022-activities_GLF-Fraud-2022.html

Here are just a few of the highlights that can be found in this report: 

• 50% of survey respondents see an increase in the volume and impact of fraudulent voice traffic versus the previous year. 
• IRSF was listed as the number 1 form of Voice Fraud, followed in a close second by Missed Call / Wangiri Fraud.
• In general, while the feeling is Voice fraud is getting more sophisticated, the feeling is most companies are making good progress towards combating it.
• As for Messaging, 35% of respondents observed an increase in the impact of fraudulent messaging in the last 12 months.
• SMS Phishing or Smishing was the higher form of Fraud reported by far followed by Originator Spoofing.
• A2P SMS fraud as a whole is not considered as big an impact to the business as a whole, partly due to the high mitigation strategies many operators already have in place.

The post IDT global, Taking the Lead in the Fight Against Fraud. appeared first on IDT global.

Sochitel is a global fintech platform focused on expanding digital access in Africa. It connects different mobile networks with financial institutions to aid top banks in the continent in providing digital services not just to Africans but also to clients around the world. With IDT’s Sochitel acquisition, we’re able to broaden our client base, widen our global reach, and accelerate fintech growth in Africa.

The post IDT Partners: CEO and Sochitel Founder Jerry Ejikeme Talks About Teaming Up with IDT global appeared first on IDT global.

This is no longer the case, as wholesalers are expected to play a positive role to identify and reduce such traffic. Failing to do so puts a carrier’s reputation at risk in an ever more competitive environment. As proof that the wholesalers are taking this role more and more seriously, a growing number have subscribed to the Global Leaders Forum’s antifraud “Code of Conduct” and use the i3 Forum’s contract language to dispute fraud and keep payments from reaching the fraudsters.

So what’s a wholesaler to do? Do what we should do best: communicate throughout the value chain! At IDT, we made the decision some years ago to actively avoid connecting with players who specialize in “premium” type termination, knowing that such companies are magnets for fraud. And we made it known that we would not tolerate such traffic. This significantly reduced the amount of fraudulent traffic coming across our network.

We also made the decision to actively support our customers in their efforts to detect and deter fraud. We monitor suspicious traffic patterns, we block risky and invalid code ranges and we vet new customers to ensure their traffic is legitimate. We do all the things that a modern carrier should do – but most importantly, we communicate with our customers and suppliers when we find something suspicious or fraudulent.

We communicate with customers so they can check the origin and validity (or, almost always, the invalidity) of the traffic if they haven’t detected it themselves. We communicate with suppliers, so they can determine who may be completing the fraudulent termination and adjust the routing before we have to pull them from our routing table entirely. We achieve this with a combination of automated and manual tools and are working to improve automation, so that the information is delivered to our partners as close to real time as possible.

There is certainly no shortage of vendors willing to offer antifraud software and solutions, and many are quite sophisticated and effective. However, wholesalers can make a big impact just by deploying the tools they use every day to monitor traffic, CDRs and operations. But it takes a change in mindset for the wholesaler.

Fighting fraud is a continuous battle, one we can never actually win – not when the bad guys spend 100% of their time finding new methods and carriers have broader businesses to run. But we can protect our customers and lose less as an industry by aligning the thinking in our companies to view fraudulent traffic as something to be deterred and thwarted, whenever we find it. Then we have to share information in a timely way.

We all have a role to play in the fight against fraud and IDT global takes its role seriously. We hope you will join us in the fight.  

Anthony Davidson

Executive Vice President – Carrier Operations

The post The role of the Wholesaler in the fight against fraud appeared first on IDT global.