Chris Wendt Joins FCC Panel on Consumer Protection and the Transition to All-IP Networks

As communications networks continue to evolve from legacy voice infrastructure to modern all-IP networks, ensuring security, trust and consumer protection has never been more important.

That was the focus of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) recent Consumer Protection and the IP Transition Workshop, where Chris Wendt, Somos’ Vice President of Systems Engineering, participated in a panel discussion exploring how the industry’s transition to IP networks can improve both innovation and consumer protection.

Moderated by FCC leaders, the panel brought together experts from across the telecommunications industry, regulatory community and consumer advocacy organizations, including:

• Chris Laughlin, Deputy Chief, Competition Policy Division, FCC Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB)

• Michael Scott, Deputy Chief, Disability Rights Office, FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB)

• David Bahar, Director, Telecommunications Access of Maryland

• Rebekah Johnson, Founder & CEO, Numeracle

• Joshua Ruby, General Counsel, Granite Telecommunications

• Jim Tyrell, Vice President, Information Services Communications Market, TNS

Advancing Trust During the IP Transition

The panel examined how the move to all-IP communications presents an opportunity to strengthen the communications ecosystem while addressing emerging security challenges.

Discussion topics included:

• Preserving end-to-end call authentication and traceback information

• Addressing the “TDM-in-the-middle” challenge that can weaken authentication

• Improving trusted calling and robocall mitigation tools

• Modernizing telephone number routing infrastructure

• Ensuring accessibility remains a foundational component of next-generation communications

As the communications ecosystem evolves, these issues are critical to protecting consumers from fraud, spoofing and unwanted robocalls while improving trust in voice communications.

Bringing Technical Leadership to the Conversation

Chris Wendt brings decades of experience in communications security and identity to the discussion. As Vice President of Systems Engineering at Somos, he helps shape the company’s technology strategy for trusted communications and secure, interoperable systems across the global telecommunications ecosystem.

Chris is widely recognized as one of the principal architects of the STIR/SHAKEN call authentication framework and continues to help advance industry standards through innovations such as enterprise authentication using delegate certificates and authoritative tokens. His expertise in trusted telephone identity, IP communications and call authentication has helped inform both industry standards and federal policy, with his work referenced in multiple FCC Notices of Proposed Rulemaking.

Supporting a Secure Future for Communications

Supporting the FCC’s efforts to enable a secure, resilient and consumer-focused IP transition remains an important priority for Somos.

Through formal comments submitted in the Commission’s IP transition and network modernization proceedings, along with ongoing engagement with FCC staff, Somos has advocated for practical approaches that strengthen trust across the communications ecosystem, including:

• End-to-end call authentication

• Verified Right-to-Use (RTU) frameworks

• Trusted telephone numbering data

• Modernized routing infrastructure

• Stronger protections against spoofing and communications fraud

These efforts help ensure that as communications technology advances, consumer trust advances with it.

Looking Ahead

The transition to all-IP communications represents more than a technology upgrade — it is an opportunity to build a more secure, trusted and resilient communications ecosystem.

Thank you to the FCC for convening this important discussion that will help shape the future of trusted communications.