Airtel Reports 8 Billion Spam Calls and 800 Million Spam SMS Identified
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New Delhi, Dec 9 (NationPress) In response to the government's mandate for telecom providers to mitigate the proliferation of spam calls and messages, Bharti Airtel disclosed on Monday that it has recognized 8 billion spam calls and 800 million spam SMS in just two and a half months since the debut of its AI-enhanced solution to tackle spam.
The AI-driven network has been capable of identifying nearly 1 million spammers daily, according to an official statement from the company.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) instructed telecom companies to eradicate spam calls and messages while adhering to guidelines regarding the whitelisting of URLs, APKs, and OTT links.
In line with this directive, Airtel launched an AI-based spam detection system in September, aiming to inform customers in real-time about potential spam calls and messages.
As reported by the company, over the past 2.5 months, it has notified around 252 million unique customers about suspicious calls, resulting in a 12 percent decrease in customer engagement with these calls.
Approximately 6 percent of all calls on the Airtel network have been marked as spam, while 2 percent of SMS have also been classified as spam.
Interestingly, the report highlights that an astonishing 35 percent of spammers employed landline phones to make their calls.
Moreover, the highest volume of spam calls has been reported by customers in Delhi, followed by those in Andhra Pradesh and western Uttar Pradesh. Delhi is also the leading region for originating spam calls, trailed by Mumbai and Karnataka.
Regarding SMS, the largest share has been traced back to Gujarat, followed closely by Kolkata and Uttar Pradesh, with the most affected customers being from Mumbai, Chennai, and Gujarat.
According to current trends, 76 percent of all spam calls target male customers.
The company noted, "Spam calls begin at 9 am and progressively increase throughout the day, peaking between noon and 3 pm when the highest volume of spam calls occurs."
The government has designated 10-digit numbers with the prefix 160 for service and transactional calls. Additionally, customers who have not opted for do-not-disturb (DND) and have agreed to receive promotional calls will keep getting them from a 10-digit number with the prefix 140.
The government reported a reduction in registered complaints against unregistered senders or spam calls/SMS to 1.51 lakh in October, a 20 percent drop from August.
