Airtel Africa has announced the launch of an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered Spam Alert Service in Nigeria.
This service, which offers Airtel smartphone and feature phone customers real-time alerts for suspected spam SMS messages, requires no additional application downloads and is automatically activated for all Airtel customers.
Starting from Nigeria, Airtel Africa says the service will subsequently roll out across other countries where the company operates.
”…we are proud to launch Africa’s first AI-powered spam alert solution. This is a gamechanger for the telecoms industry in Africa and as we move forward, we will continue to address customer challenges through proactive tech-driven solutions.” Airtel Nigeria Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dinesh Balsingh.
”We are proud to launch this innovative initiative in Nigeria, our largest market in Africa, while the other countries will launch in the coming months,” he added.
The AI-powered solution classifies suspicious SMS messages as “Suspected SPAM.” Without reading specific SMS messages, the AI analyses in real time over 250 parameters, including the sender’s usage patterns such as SMS frequency and geographical spread of targets. The service is designed to filter all SMS through a proprietary dual-layer protection: one layer at the network level and the other at the IT systems level, processing over 1.5 billion messages in 2 milliseconds.
Additionally, the software alerts customers to malicious weblinks received via SMS. For this purpose, a centralized database of blocked URLs is maintained, and by scanning every SMS in real time the AI system can warn users against accidentally clicking on suspicious links.
The Airtel Africa AI Powered Spam Alert Service will be available to all its subscribers at no cost.
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