Bharti Airtel on Monday announced two key upgrades to its AI-powered spam detection system, aimed at further curbing the rising menace of unwanted communication. The enhancements include spam alerts in regional Indian languages and expanded coverage to detect spam originating from international networks.
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Multilingual Spam Alerts Rolled Out
Customers will now receive real-time spam alerts for calls and SMS in ten Indian languages—Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, Punjabi and Urdu. The feature is currently available to Android users, with plans for wider rollout in the future.
AI Detects Spam from International Numbers
In response to a growing trend of spammers using overseas networks to bypass domestic filters, Airtel's AI system will now also screen calls and messages from international numbers. The company cited a 12 percent increase in spam calls from foreign sources over the last six months.
"Once Airtel intensified its efforts to combat domestic spam calls, scamsters and spammers resorted to exploiting foreign networks to funnel fraudulent calls into India. This alarming trend resulted in a 12 percent increase in overseas spam calls in the last six months. Airtel expects to nullify this growing challenge with its new feature," the company said.
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"After carefully analysing customer feedback, we have enhanced our solutions to better serve the linguistic diversity of India," said the Director – Marketing and CEO – Connected Homes, Bharti Airtel. "Additionally, with the growing volume of SPAM traffic shifting to foreign networks, we have decided to expand our AI-powered tool to scan all SMS messages and phone calls originating from international numbers. Our dedicated team of engineers and data scientists will continue to refine and enhance our offerings, ensuring we stay ahead of any and all emerging threats."
Over 27.5 Billion Spam Calls Flagged
Since its launch in September 2024, Airtel said its industry-first spam detection system has flagged over 27.5 billion spam calls—equivalent to roughly 1,560 calls per second. The company claims a 16 percent reduction in spam call volumes among its user base since deployment.
Also Read: Airtel Says Flagged 8 Billion Spam Calls with AI Solution
The new features will be automatically enabled for all Airtel customers at no additional cost, requiring no manual activation or service request.
