Insights

Exploring “Trust, Technology & Transformation”  at the 2025 Somos Summit: Answering the Call for Trusted Communications

Nov 13, 2025

The 2025 Somos Summit brought together global thought leaders, industry experts and innovators to explore the intersection of Trust, Technology & Transformation. Held just outside Washington, D.C., this year’s event featured insightful sessions and meaningful conversations focused on advancing the telecom ecosystem and shaping the future of trusted communications.

Day two of the 2025 Somos Summit kicked off with a welcome keynote from Gina Perini, President and CEO of Somos, who welcomed attendees and introduced the day’s theme of “Trust, Technology & Transformation”. Her message emphasized collaboration across the communications ecosystem and the need to build trust into every interaction.

Gina thanked Somos Summit sponsors, speakers and attendees for their continued partnership, saying, “Because of your passion, your ideas and your belief in what’s possible, the future of this industry is in us.” She reminded the audience that trust is the foundation of communication; without it, consumers ignore calls, businesses lose reach and the system as a whole loses value.

Holding up her phone, Gina noted that while devices now handle nearly everything in daily life, the call itself still lacks trust. “It’s like we built the car but forgot the seatbelt,” she said. Fraud has eroded confidence, with nearly a third of unknown-number calls now scams. A recent Somos survey found that 99 percent of financial services professionals experienced fraud losses last year and 90 percent believe it’s getting worse.

She said that while tools like STIR/SHAKEN have advanced the fight, they remain reactive. “We need to go on offense,” she said, and it was here that she reintroduced the Trust Framework for phone number Right-to-Use: Somos’ proposed set of industry standards for authenticating number identity along the call path.

The framework, she said, complements existing technologies and invites participation from carriers, regulators and enterprises. “The phone number isn’t just how we connect,” Gina said. “It’s the universal key for building trust in the digital world.”

To shed greater light on the mechanics of the Trust Framework itself, she walked the audience through an end-to-end diagram of a call path, first demonstrating the uncertainty currently present at every step. Then, she approached the same call-path from the opposite end – this time, demonstrating the trust in number identity that implementing the Trust Framework will bring.

Before concluding, Gina previewed the day’s sessions on fraud prevention, data intelligence, AI and policy, as well as the upcoming keynote from Brett Johnson: the “original internet godfather” himself.

Finally, she closed with a call to action, by referencing the very first words spoken across a telephone by Alexander Graham Bell: “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.”

As she explained, the purpose of the phone has always been to drive connection. “The world is still calling,” she said. “Let’s answer.”

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

●      It’s Time for Trust to Rise to the Occasion: Our phones are unbelievably advanced, but without certainty in number identity, their original purpose is lagging behind.

●      Proactive defense matters: The Trust Framework moves the industry from reaction to prevention by ensuring authentication at every level.

●      Collaboration builds confidence: Shared standards can restore trust in every connection.