T-Mobile's parent company thinks it has the fix for spam calls in the AI age

It's the AI era, and what that means is that spam calls are getting smarter. Not cool, but voices can now be cloned, numbers can be spoofed, and many people, especially older users, struggle to tell what is real and what is not.

This is why carriers can no longer rely on basic filters. They need strong, built-in protections that make phone calls trustworthy again.

The good example

Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile's parent company, has rolled out branded calling services designed to make business calls more transparent and easier to trust. The idea is simple: when a legitimate company calls, users can clearly see who is calling instead of guessing or ignoring the call. To make this work, Deutsche Telekom partnered with US-based companies Hiya and First Orion, both well-known for call identity and spam protection technology.

This move builds on work already done inside the group. T-Mobile in the US has been using branded calling tools from First Orion for some time now alongside the CTIA. In Germany, Deutsche Telekom says branded calling works directly at the network level, so users do not need to install apps or extra software.

The new service also ties into Deutsche Telekom's Call Check feature, launched in December, which warns users about suspicious or known scam calls. With branded calling, available since early January 2026, phones now show both the number and the verified business name on screen.

Do you ignore unknown callers?

According to Hiya, about 80% of unknown calls in Germany are ignored. That hurts both consumers and legitimate businesses. People are tired of spam, but businesses still need to reach customers for things like deliveries, appointments, or fraud alerts. Branded calling aims to fix that trust gap.

This problem is not limited to Germany. In the US, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile all face the same challenge. Spam calls hit Americans daily, and AI-powered scams are making them harder to spot. Elderly users are often the most at risk, as scam calls are becoming more natural and convincing.

Deutsche Telekom also plans to expand protections to text messages, focusing on scams that try to steal login details. That broader approach shows where the industry is heading.

This is essential

The way I see it, carriers everywhere should treat this as a baseline, not a bonus feature.

In the US, the big three telcos already do some spam filtering, but branded calling and stronger verification need to become standard across all networks.