Bharti Airtel’s Spam Protection Solution Flags 800 Crore Spam Calls Post Launch

Nearly two and a half months after Bharti Airtel Ltd. launched its in-house spam protection solution, a staggering 800 crore spam calls and 80 crore spam messages have been flagged.

Leveraging this advanced algorithm, the AI-powered network has successfully identified close to 10 lakh spammers every day, according to a press release.

The AI solution has alerted close to 25.2 crore customers regarding these suspicious calls, which has resulted in a 12% decline in the number of customers answering them. The report has identified that 6% of all calls and 2% of all messages are spam.

Delhi has been witness to the maximum number of spam calls during these two and half months. The capital city has also featured as the top originator of such spam calls. On the other hand, the maximum number of spam messages originated from Gujarat.

The height of this spam activity is observed between 12:00 and 3:00 p.m. Furthermore, the number of spam calls varies significantly between weekdays and weekends. On Sundays, the volume of these calls dropped by approximately 40%, Airtel said.

Interestingly, male customers have received 76% of all spam calls. In addition, customers in the age bracket of 36-60 have received 48% of all spam calls, while those in the 26-35 age bracket have been the second-most targeted, accounting for 26% of spam calls.

In a move to curb spam calls and messages for customers, Airtel in September had launched a network-based, artificial intelligence-powered spam detection solution. The tool alerts customers in real-time to all suspected spam calls and SMSes.

The solution has two filters: one at the network layer and the second at the IT systems layer. Every call and SMS will pass through this dual-layered AI shield. It is free of cost and has been auto-activated for all customers, without them having to raise a service request or download an app.