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Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Monday announced two new features in its fight against spam calls.

According to the telco, the customers will receive SPAM alerts for calls and SMS messages in their preferred Indian languages. This new feature will be available in nine vernacular languages, with plans to add more in the future. Airtel’s AI-powered tool will now screen and alert customers to all SPAM calls and SMSes originating from international networks. 

According to Airtel, there has been a 12% increase in overseas spam calls in 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," the company said in a stock exchange filing.

With these new features, Airtel expects to nullify international spam calls.

The upgraded AI-driven SPAM solution will now notify users about calls and messages from both domestic and
international numbers in ten Indian languages, including Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil, Kannada,
Malayalam, Urdu, Punjabi and Telugu. SPAM alert notifications using vernacular languages are only accessible to customers using Android devices. All these features continue to be free for customers and will get auto-activated for All Airtel customers without them having to raise a service request.

"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," Siddharth Sharma, Director Marketing and CEO Connected Homes, Bharti Airtel, said.

Airtel launched an anti-spam tool in September 2024. According to telco, it has identified 27.5 billion calls to date, which translates to 1560 spam calls every second. The company claimed that its customers have also seen a 16% decrease in SPAM calls since the launch of the anti-spam feature.

Airtel introduces AI-powered spam detection for international calls, SMSes in 10 languages

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) signed a Letter of Intent (LoI), during Dr. Neeraj Mittal's, Secretary (Telecom), visit to Geneva to advance India's global leadership in digital connectivity. This marks the beginning of a new phase of strategic collaboration. 

The collaboration between DoT and ITU marks a shift in the telecom sector’s role from merely providing connectivity to becoming a platform for data-driven decision-making. This partnership will also explore new business models, enabling a scalable, knowledge-based ecosystem that drives sustainable growth. The agreement aims to foster innovation in emerging technologies, including digital twins, AI-driven solutions, virtual world technologies, and the transformative potential of IMT-2030.

Dr. Mittal met with ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin to reaffirm India’s commitment to digital connectivity, inclusion and innovation. Their discussions focused on India's leadership in 5G/6G technologies, AI for digital transformation, cybersecurity frameworks and ITU’s Partner2Connect initiative, which seeks to bridge the global digital divide. India also pledged continued support for ITU’s initiatives by contributing to global connectivity projects and skill development programs.

In a move to position India as a global hub for telecommunications policy and ICT regulations, Dr. Mittal proposed hosting the ITU-Plenipotentiary Conference 2030 in India. The proposal was positively acknowledged, with further discussions set to take place at the upcoming ITU Council Meeting. 

Why India-ITU collaboration?

Knowledge Sharing & Capacity Building: Exchange insights from DoT’s Sangam and ITU’s Citiverse to enhance cross-sectoral data integration and collaborative planning.

Global Standards Development: Contribute to ITU-T Study Group 20 to create global standards, APIs, and methodologies for IoT, digital twins, and smart cities.

Sandbox Environments & Pilot Projects: Establish controlled environments to test and validate innovative digital twin technologies and regulatory frameworks.

Citizen Engagement & Simulations: Utilize AI-powered platforms for real-time urban planning, enabling participatory governance and collaborative decision-making.

Privacy & Data Security: Share insights on privacy-enhancing techniques (PETs) for ICT measurement and secure urban planning initiatives.

AI Model Integration for Digital Twins: Develop custom AI models using country-specific datasets to optimize infrastructure development and urban mobility.

The next generation of mobile communication technologies is evolving beyond traditional connectivity, integrating AI, digital twins, and real-time connectivity into a seamless ecosystem. These advancements will transform infrastructure planning across key sectors such as transportation, urban development, and healthcare, making them more dynamic, adaptive, and sustainable.

India strengthens global telecom leadership; signs LoI with ITU

Bharti Airtel has flagged a 8 billion spam calls and 0.8 billion spam SMSes within two and a half months of launching its AI-powered, spam-fighting solution. As per the company, the AI-powered network has successfully identified close to 1 million spammers every day leveraging this advanced algorithm.  

The company, in the last 2.5 months, has alerted close to 252 million unique customers to these suspicious calls and has observed that there has been a 12 percent decline in the number of customers answering them. Six percent of all calls on the Airtel network have been identified as spam calls, while 2 percent of all SMSes have also been identified as spam. Interestingly, it has been observed that a staggering 35 percent of the spammers have used landline telephones.  

Additionally, customers in Delhi have received the maximum number of spam calls, followed by customers in Andhra Pradesh and Western Uttar Pradesh. Delhi is also where a maximum number of the spam calls have originated, followed by Mumbai and Karnataka. In terms of SMSes, the maximum number have originated in Gujarat followed by Kolkata and Uttar Pradesh and the maximum number of customers targeted have been from Mumbai, Chennai and Gujarat. 

As per the trends, 76 percent of all spam calls have been targeted at male customers. Additionally, distinct differences have been noted in terms of spam call frequency across age demographics. Customers in the age bracket of 36-60 have received 48 percent of all spam calls, while those in the 26-35 age bracket have been the second-most targeted, accounting for 26 percent of spam calls. Approximately only 8 percent of the spam calls have landed in the handsets of senior citizens. 

The company's findings have also shed light on the hourly distribution of spam activity. Spam calls commence from 9 am onwards and gradually escalate in volume as the day progresses. The peak of spam activity is observed between  noon and 3 pm, during which the highest concentration of spam calls occur. Moreover, there is a notable disparity in the frequency of spam calls between weekdays and weekends. The volume of these calls diminishes by around 40 percent on Sundays. Specifically, devices in the price range of 15,000 to 20,000 rupees are the recipients of approximately 22 percent of all spam calls.  

By meticulously examining a multitude of parameters, the AI-driven system has been able to identify these unwanted intrusions in real-time with remarkable accuracy. This groundbreaking initiative has firmly established Airtel as the first service provider in India to offer a comprehensive solution to the growing menace of spam, setting new industry standards for inclusive security measures that prioritise the privacy and convenience of its vast customer base.  

The Government of India (GoI) has allocated 10-digit numbers with the prefix 160 to for service and transactional calls. Customers can expect to receive calls from these 160-prefix series assigned to banks, mutual funds, insurance companies, stockbrokers, other financial institutions, corporates, enterprises, SMEs, big and small businesses used for making transactional and service calls.  

Additionally, those customers who have not opted for Do-not-disturb (DND) and have subscribed to receiving promotional calls will continue to receive them from a 10-digit number with the prefix 140.  

Bharti Airtel flags 8 billion spam calls, 0.8 billion spam SMSes in 2.5 months

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has taken significant steps to ensure the secure transmission of text messages by mandating full traceability of senders of commercial messages. As part of its ongoing efforts to regulate and secure the messaging ecosystem, TRAI issued a directive on August 20, 2024, requiring all commercial messages to be traceable from senders to recipients by November 1, 2024. 

In response, Access Providers have implemented the necessary technical solutions to meet this deadline. However, recognizing the need for additional time for technical upgrades and the chain declaration process by Principal Entities (PEs) and Telemarketers (TMs), TRAI, in a further directive issued on October 28, 2024, extended the deadline for full compliance to November 30, 2024. 

To raise awareness about these new regulations, TRAI reached out to various sector regulators, including the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), urging them to sensitize the PEs under their jurisdiction about the importance of adhering to the new rules. 

TRAI also conducted webinars in collaboration with Access Providers, which were attended by representatives from PEs, TMs, government departments, sector regulators, and industry associations. Additional interactive sessions and webinars were organized to directly engage with PEs and TMs.

Over 27,000 PEs have already registered their message chains with the relevant Access Providers due to these outreach efforts, with registration continuing at an accelerated pace. Access Providers have also been sending warning notices to PEs and TMs that have not yet made the necessary changes.

After reviewing the progress of PE-TM chain declarations, TRAI, considering requests from Access Providers and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), has made a partial revision to its earlier directive. 

The new deadline for ensuring PE-TM chain declarations is now set for December 10, 2024. In the meantime, Access Providers will continue to issue daily warning notices to PEs and TMs who have yet to comply.

Starting December 11, 2024, any messages whose sender chain is undefined or does not match the pre-registered chain will be rejected. TRAI has again urged all PEs and TMs to prioritize the declaration of their chains, emphasizing that non-compliant messages will not be processed from December 11 onward. 

This move is expected to significantly enhance the traceability of commercial messages, improving the overall security and accountability of messaging services in India.

TRAI extends deadline for commercial message traceability to December 10

India's telecom major Reliance Jio is likely to make a market debut in 2025, news agency Reuters reported. The agency added that the retail arm of Reliance Industries Limited could set an IPO later. 

Citing sources, the news agency said that Jio, one of the profitable businesses of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, is valued at over $100 billion.

Ambani in 2019 said Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail would "move towards" a listing within five years.

Reuters report said that the telecom has firmed up plans to launch the Jio IPO in 2025 as it internally believes that it has achieved a stable business and revenue stream in becoming India's no.1 telecom player.

Recently, Jio lost a battle with the world's richest person Elon Musk over the satellite spectrum. 

Ambani could face a bigger challenge if Musk's Starlink launches a service in India. Meanwhile, the RIL chairman has partnered with Nvidia to develop AI infrastructure.

However, a source told Reuters that JIo's IPO  could be India's biggest-ever IPO overtaking Hyundai India.

This month Reliance Jio announced its Q2 result in which it revealed that its 5G subscriber base grew from 130 million to 147 million and its average revenue per user (ARPU) increased from Rs 181.7 to Rs 195.1.

The company posted a profit of Rd 6,536 crore.

Reliance Jio eyes market debut in 2025, valued at over $100 billion: Report

Bharti Airtel recently announced changes to its leadership team, as the telecom company plans to separate its Direct-to-Home (DTH) and entertainment units as part of a new restructuring strategy. Airtel will also establish customer experience as a standalone function.

Airtel has appointed Shashwat Sharma as the next Managing Director & CEO, while Gopal Vittal will transition to the role of Executive Vice Chairman. These changes will take effect on January 1, 2026.

In his role as CEO designate, Sharma will oversee the entire end-to-end consumer business. Vittal will focus on mentoring and preparing Sharma for his transition to MD & CEO of Bharti Airtel Ltd.

According to media reports, Airtel’s restructuring will separate DTH from the converged entertainment category, creating two distinct areas: Connected Homes—which will include Broadband and Converged Entertainment—and DTH.

The Connected Homes division will aim to drive rapid growth and competitiveness, while the DTH unit will focus on achieving world-class efficiency and competitiveness.

Additionally, Airtel will establish Customer Experience as an independent function. Shivan Bhargava will be appointed as the Director of Customer Experience and will lead this unit.

Siddharth Sharma, currently the CEO of DTH, will be appointed Director of Marketing and CEO of Connected Homes. Pushpinder Gujral, currently CEO of the Upper North region, will take on the role of CEO and Director of DTH.

Amit Tripathi, currently the Director of Marketing and Customer Experience, will become Director of Market Operations, overseeing all regional circles and distribution strategy.

Airtel to separate D2H and entertainment units, restructuring plans to benefit business

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has unveiled its new logo and seven citizen centric services. The launch ceremony was held at Bharat Sanchar Bhavan and was attended by Secretary Telecom, CMD BSNL& senior Officers from DoT, BSNL, CDoT, ITI & TCIL. 

The logo was launched in presence of Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, the Union Minister of Communications and Development of North Eastern Region and MoS for Communications and Rural Development, Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar. 

The new logo symbolizes strength, trust and accessibility. The green and white arrows surrounding India emphasize the company's expansive nationwide reach, while the vibrant orange backdrop signifies warmth and inclusivity. The tagline 'Connecting Bharat' highlights BSNL’s mission to bridge the digital divide by offering a modern, reliable telecom network that connects both urban and rural India.

As per the company, the seven new services represents BSNL’s renewed focus on delivering secure, affordable and reliable connectivity to every corner of Bharat. The seven initiatives aims at revolutionizing how India connects, communicates and enhances its digital security. "The bouquet of these seven citizen centric services, are Made in India, Made for India and Made by India," Jyotiraditya M. Scindia said while unveiling the logo.

Notedly, BSNL will soon deploy its 5G services. The company has successfully conducted trials of 5G RAN and core in both the 3.6 GHz and 700 MHz bands.

Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/how-it-works/trai-releases-consultation-paper-on-terms-conditions-of-network-authorisations-under-telecom-act-45730.htm">TRAI releases consultation paper on terms, conditions of network authorisations under Telecom Act</a>

Scindia mentioned that BSNL is the only Telecom Service Provider (TSP) in India to launch these seven indigenous services, which from now on will always keep BSNL at the forefront of technological innovations in India. Talking about India’s indigenous 5G vision, the Minister shared that BSNL has embarked upon several initiatives to strengthen India’s ambitious 5G roll-out. "We have conducted successful trials of Indigenous 5G RAN and Core in both 3.6 GHz and 700 MHz bands and India will soon deploy indigenous 5G services. He added that out of the 1,00,000 BSNL 4G sites planned to be set-up by mid-2025, many will also be graduated to 5G connectivity," he added.

Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Communication and Rural Development, Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar highlighted that time and again, BSNL has stood as the nation’s backbone, providing telecom services in remote, challenging terrains. He emphasized that BSNL has unwavering government support and has received two revival packages. He further added that BSNL has skilled manpower and has nationwide reach.

TELECOM