Airtel Launches AI-Powered Tool To Crack The Whip On Spam Calls

Cracking the whip on unsolicited and pesky calls, telecom giant Bharti Airtel on Wednesday (September 25) announced the launch of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered spam detection tool. 

The new solution will flag suspected spam calls and messages in real-time to end users. In a statement, the company said that the new offering will be free and will be auto-activated for all Airtel users.

“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,” said Airtel managing director and CEO Gopal Vittal.

Developed in-house, the AI-powered solution leverages its proprietary algorithm to classify calls and messages as “Suspected SPAM”. This is done by analysing various parameters such as the caller’s usage patterns, call frequency, call duration, among others, on a real-time basis. 

Thereafter, this data is cross-referenced with known spam patterns, and calls and SMSes are accordingly flagged by the telco. 

Elaborating on this, Airtel said that the solution has dual filters and operates at two levels – network layer and IT systems layer. In the statement, the telecom operator claimed that the solution will be able to process 150 Cr messages and 250 Cr calls in a span of two milliseconds. 

“In 2 milliseconds, our solution processes 1.5 Bn messages and 2.5 Bn calls every day. This is equivalent to processing 1 Tn (1 Lakh Cr) records on a real time basis using the power of AI. Our solution has been able to successfully identify 100 Mn potential spam calls and 3 Mn spam SMSes originating every day,” added Vittal.

Additionally, the company also claims that its AI-powered tool can also alert customers to “malicious” links received via SMS. For this, the telco has built a centralised database of blacklisted URLs, which is leveraged by the AI to cross-check whether a link is suspicious. 

Airtel added that the solution can also detect anomalies such as frequent IMEI changes to curb the growing menace of spam calls.

This comes at a time when Indian authorities have ramped up focus on curbing the growing menace of spam calls. Earlier this week, telcos blacklisted 50 entities and disconnected 2.85 Lakh mobile numbers for spamming users on the directions of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Afterwards, it was also reported that TRAI was pushing the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to take strong measures against unsolicited communications via apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram.