On October 1, 2020, the FCC invited comments from the telecommunications industry to ascertain progress on implementing Caller ID Authentication. Verizon’s reply underscored the extensive amount of time and effort its team(s) have put in, yielding substantial progress.

Fiber optic cables carrying massive amounts of information on pulsating beams of light are a critical part of the physical infrastructure supporting our digital society. By their nature, these cables are highly exposed, spanning huge distances in territories beyond the control of a network operator whether underground, under water or on aerial cables, and popping up in equipment huts.

By design and tradition, telecoms networks are built to last. But in a world where the rate of innovation seems to be accelerating, the end result is that a lot of legacy infrastructure needs to keep pace with, and accommodate, multiple ‘next generation’ phases. How long this can be maintained before the imperative to rip and replace becomes impossible to ignore is the multi-million-dollar question.