Telecom giant Bharti Airtel has flagged 8 billion spam calls and 800 million spam SMSes within 2.5 months of launching its AI-powered spam detection solution, aimed at curbing the spread of unsolicited communication.

The company revealed that its advanced AI network identifies 1 million spammers daily and has alerted 252 million unique customers to suspicious calls. This has resulted in a 12% decline in customers answering spam calls.

Key Highlights:

  • Spam Detection Rates:
    • 6% of all calls on Airtel’s network were identified as spam.
    • 2% of SMSes flagged as spam.
  • Origin and Target Regions:
    • Spam Calls: Maximum originated from Delhi, followed by Mumbai and Karnataka. The highest number of recipients were in Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, and Western Uttar Pradesh.
    • Spam SMSes: Most originated from Gujarat, followed by Kolkata and Uttar Pradesh. Recipients were primarily in Mumbai, Chennai, and Gujarat.
  • Spamming Trends:
    • 35% of spammers used landline phones.
    • 76% of spam calls targeted male customers.
    • Spam activity peaks between 12 PM and 3 PM.

Government Measures:
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) directed operators to implement spam mitigation measures, including whitelisting URLs, APKs, and OTT links. The government allocated 10-digit prefixes (160 for service calls and 140 for promotional calls) to streamline communication.

Customer Impact:
Airtel’s spam-fighting solution has significantly reduced complaints against unregistered senders, with registered complaints dropping by 20% from August to October, now standing at 1.51 lakh.

The initiative reflects a broader industry effort to protect users from spam while promoting a safer communication environment.