In today’s digital world, secure and trusted identity verification has never been more critical. Verifiable credentials (VCs) are emerging as a powerful solution to establish trust for both individuals and organizations. These digital, tamper-proof credentials allow anyone to prove their identity or other associated information in a secure and verifiable way. For individuals, this could mean presenting a digital driver’s license or ID card, while for organizations, it could include business registrations, licenses, or industry-standard identifiers such as the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI). These VCs are particularly valuable in industries like telecommunications, where verifying identities and associated attributes is essential for authentication and preventing fraud to secure communications.
In the telecom ecosystem, establishing trusted identities for individuals and organizations is essential to addressing challenges including spoofed calls or SMS messages, impersonation, and ensuring regulatory compliance.
However, not all verifiable credentials can be trusted equally. Verifiable credentials are issued across a variety of ecosystems, such as government authorities, industry-specific governance bodies, or independent organizations. Without proper oversight, telecom service providers verifying presented credentials face a challenge: how to know which credentials meet the necessary security and trust requirements.
This is where the concept of Telecom Verifiable Credential (VC) Governance becomes essential. The role of telecom VC governance is to sanction and authorize the use of credentials issued under the control of external governance authorities. Rather than setting standards for external governance itself, the telecom governance framework establishes criteria for identifying credentials backed by strong governance and robust vetting, thus establishing a foundation of trust and reliability.
For organizational identities, this means that the telecom VC governance authority can endorse credentials issued by external governance bodies — such as those managing LEIs or business certifications—provided their policies meet telecom-specific standards. These external bodies operate independently, but their vetting and verification processes align with the telecom VC framework to ensure interoperability and trust. Similarly, organizational attributes, such as business licenses, industry certifications, and operational details, can also be endorsed. Once properly governed, the telecom VC governance authority can maintain and share a list of endorsed externally issued verifiable credentials with telecom verifiers. This enables telecom verifiers, such as service providers or end-user devices, to confidently identify which credentials can be trusted and verify the presented information as both accurate and reliable within the telecom domain.
What makes this approach particularly powerful is that any entity in the call path — whether a telecom service provider, an intermediary, or even an end-user device — can act as a verifier. When a verifiable credential is presented during a call setup or transaction, it can be authenticated using cryptographic proofs and governance policies. This ensures that all parties involved can trust the presented identity or organizational information. For instance, a telecom provider receiving a VoIP call can validate the business’s verifiable credential indicating their identity, business name, and purpose of the call, ensuring the call is legitimate before connecting it to the recipient. The telecom VC governance framework ensures that this verification process is reliable, secure, and scalable across the entire ecosystem.
By endorsing trusted verifiable credentials that are already in the public domain and aligning with external governance bodies, the telecom industry can create a foundation for trusted identity verification. This not only enhances security by reducing fraud and impersonation but also improves the efficiency of telecom operations by enabling streamlined and automated verification processes. Furthermore, integrating these credentials into the telecom framework offers greater interoperability across different domains, ensuring that trusted identities can be verified seamlessly, whether for regulatory compliance, enterprise communication or consumer services.
In conclusion, verifiable credentials have the potential to transform the telecom industry by providing a trusted, secure, and scalable method for verifying individuals and organizational identities along with their attributes. However, this trust relies on a robust governance framework that authorizes the use of externally issued credentials backed by strong governance, rigorous vetting processes, and robust policy controls, enabling telecom verifiers to authenticate these credentials with confidence. The ATIS Enterprise Identity Working Group is actively examining how a Telecom VC Governance Framework can bring these trusted verifiable credentials — backed by strong governance from governments and industry associations — into the telecom domain. By taking a proactive role in managing credential governance, the telecom industry can address long-standing challenges such as call fraud and identity spoofing, while creating a future where trusted digital identities form the backbone of secure and seamless communication.