Bharti Airtel, the third-largest telecom operator in the world, launched its in-house AI spam call detector to address growing concerns about spam calls and messages. The newly launched AI model scanned over 1 trillion records in real-time and sniffed out 115 million spam calls and 3.6 million spam messages on day one itself.
Bharti Airtel’s efforts resonate with those of the telecom regulator TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority Of India). The regulator blocked over 2 lakh mobile numbers and blacklisted 50 companies to address the issues raised by people regarding spam calls.
Airtel’s CEO and Managing Director, Gopal Vittal, mentioned, “Spam has become a menace for customers. We have spent the last twelve months trying to solve this comprehensively. Today marks a milestone as we launch the country’s first AI-powered spam-free network to shield our customers from the continuous onslaught of intrusive and unwanted communications.”
According to Mint, Airtel’s Data Scientists have developed a tool that could potentially rival Sweden’s Truecaller, which has dominated the market for years. The service will be automatically activated for Airtel customers, eliminating the need to download an app.
Further, the company has already shared information about the tool with the Ministry of Electronics and Information, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the Reserve Bank of India, TRAI, and more. In the letter to the regulators, Vittal mentioned, “By analysing the behaviour patterns of users, we believe we can identify spammers and potential scamsters faster, enabling users to make an informed decision. Our solution is phone agnostic and works equally well on all operating systems, ensuring broad accessibility.”
