Bharti Airtel, India’s second-largest telecom provider, has unveiled a cutting-edge AI-powered spam detection system aimed at reducing unsolicited calls and messages for its 387 million wireless subscribers.
This system, the first network-based spam filter in India, is automatically activated for customers at no additional cost.
India has faced significant challenges with spam communication. A survey by LocalCircles reported that 95% of Indians receive unwanted calls daily, with the government’s DND registry proving ineffective.
Airtel’s new AI solution tackles this by filtering communications at both network and IT levels, analyzing caller patterns and blocking suspicious activity in real-time.
Processing an immense volume of 1.5 billion messages and 2.5 billion calls daily, the system identifies around 100 million spam calls and 3 million spam messages.
In addition to filtering out spam, the system helps prevent fraud by scanning SMS content for malicious links and monitoring irregularities like frequent device changes.
Airtel’s CEO, Gopal Vittal, also emphasized the need for stronger regulation of messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, which are increasingly being used for spam-related activities.
