October 1, 2024 Associations Related to Telecommunications Carriers Establish a Certification Body for Telephone Service Providers

 Five associations related to telecommunications carriers (Telecom Services Association, Telecommunications Carriers Association, Japan Internet Providers Association, Japan Cable and Telecommunications Association, and Japan Unified Communications Service Provider Association) today established the Elite Telecom Operator Certification Body (ETOC) to operate a new elite operator certification system for telephone service providers.

 Damage due to special frauds caused by misuse of telephone numbers remains a serious situation.

 Currently, telephone service providers are taking measures such as suspending the use of telephone numbers used for special frauds in response to requests from the police, following the “Scheme for the Suspension of Fixed-Line Phone Numbers, etc. Used for Special Frauds” notified by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) to the Telecommunications Carriers Association and the Japan Unified Communications Service provider Association. Although these efforts have achieved a certain degree of success, in recent years, some wholesale providers of telephone services have been arrested and prosecuted for aiding fraud by providing telephone lines (telephone numbers), knowing that the telephone lines would be used for special fraud. Thus, the reality of telephone numbers being misused for special fraud is becoming more complex.

 Against this backdrop, five associations related to telecommunications carriers (Telecom Services Association, Telecommunications Carriers Association, Japan Internet Providers Association, Japan Cable and Telecommunications Association, and Japan Unified Communications Service Provider Association) today established the Elite Telecom Operator Certification Body (ETOC) to operate a new elite operator certification system for telephone service providers.

 ETOC will evaluate the systems and initiatives of telephone service providers, including their countermeasures against crime, and certify them as elite operators. This is expected to make it easier for wholesale dealers and users of telephone services to select elite operators at the time of subscription and to make it difficult for operators trying to engage in special fraud to provide telephone services using telephone numbers.

 Telephone numbers handed over to organizations engaged in special fraud may become unusable for a certain period due to suspension of use or suspension of business following the arrest of persons involved, which is recognized as a problem from the perspective of efficient use of telephone numbers, which is a finite and scarce resource in Japan.

 MIC hopes that such voluntary efforts by associations related to telecommunications carriers will contribute to the sound development of the telecommunications market. MIC will continue to collaborate with the National Police Agency and relevant organizations and promote efforts to prevent the misuse of telephone numbers for special frauds.