Airtel launches India's first Al-powered real-time spam detection solution

PTC News Desk: Bharti Airtel on Wednesday introduced India's first network-based, AI-powered spam detection solution to help its customers deal with spam calls and messages.

"A first-of-its-kind solution by a telecom service provider in the country, the tool will alert customers in real time to all suspected spam calls and SMSes. The solution is free of cost and will get auto-activated for all Airtel customers without them having to raise a service request or download an app," the company said.

Bharti Airtel's Managing Director and CEO, Gopal Vittal, stated,  “Spam has become a menace for customers. We have spent the last twelve months to solve this comprehensively. Today marks a milestone as we launch the country’s first AI-powered spam-free network that will shield our customers from the continuous onslaught of intrusive and unwanted communications”.

"Our solution has successfully identified 100 million possible spam calls and 3 million spam SMSes per day. Keeping our customers safe is our top priority," Vittal continued.

The AI-powered system, developed in-house by Airtel data scientists, employs a proprietary algorithm to identify and classify calls and SMSes as "Suspected SPAM".

The telecom company said that its system accurately detects potential spam calls and SMSes.

Additionally, the Airtel service alerts clients to fraudulent links received via SMS. Airtel stated that it has created a centralised database of blacklisted URLs and that each SMS is reviewed in real-time by an AI algorithm to prevent consumers from mistakenly clicking on dubious links.

In an important move to combat the growing amount of spam calls, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recently mandated that all service providers stop voice promotional calls, whether pre-recorded or computer-produced, from all unregistered senders or telemarketers.