Airtel enhances AI spam filter for international calls, adds ten regional languages

Bharti Airtel has expanded its AI-powered spam detection system to cover international calls and messages, aiming to curb a recent rise in overseas spam activity. The company also announced support for spam alerts in ten Indian languages, enhancing accessibility for users across the country.

The updated system will notify users of spam calls and SMS from both domestic and foreign numbers, with alerts now available in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu, Punjabi and Urdu. These regional language alerts will initially be rolled out to Android users, with more languages expected in future updates.

All new features will be activated automatically and provided at no extra cost to Airtel customers.

Airtel said the move follows a 12% increase in spam traffic from international networks over the past six months, as scammers seek to bypass stricter domestic controls. The expanded coverage is expected to address this growing trend.

Siddharth Sharma, Director of Marketing and CEO Connected Homes at Bharti Airtel, said, "After carefully analysing customer feedback, we have enhanced our solutions to better serve the linguistic diversity of India. 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."

Airtel's AI spam filter, launched in September 2024, has so far flagged more than 27.5 billion spam calls, around 1,560 per second, according to data from the telecom operator. Airtel also claims that this has contributed to a 16% decline in spam calls received by its users.