Indian telcos to join forces to tackle rising spam calls & messages menace

Telecom companies have traditionally been hesitant to share sensitive data because it could affect their business customers financially

In a rare move, Indian telecom operators may set aside competition to combat the growing menace of spam calls and messages. Chief executive of Bharti Airtel Gopal Vittal has reached out to rivals Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea, state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, and Tata Teleservices, proposing a unified system for monitoring corporate connections used for commercial calling. This collaborative approach aims to prevent the misuse of these connections, a persistent issue affecting millions of consumers daily, reported The Economic Times.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) have long called for such industry cooperation, as spam and phishing activities continue to surge, impacting consumers nationwide.

In a letter, Vittal proposed a system for sharing key data, such as corporate names and active numbers, on a monthly basis. “We are ready to take the first step and share the data in the same template on a monthly basis, and we would appreciate your support,” Vittal wrote in the letter, which was addressed to the heads of rival telecom operators.

Historically, telecom companies have been reluctant to share sensitive data due to the financial impact on their enterprise customer base. However, experts say the situation has reached a critical point, with spam calls and phishing attempts now posing a significant threat to both consumers and the telecom industry.

India sees an alarming 1.5-1.7 billion commercial messages sent daily, totalling approximately 55 billion messages each month, according to industry data. A survey by community platform Local Circles revealed that six out of ten consumers receive at least three spam calls per day, with financial services and real estate sectors being the top offenders. Additionally, 76 per cent of consumers receive three or more spam messages daily, according to another survey by the platform.

In an effort to curb spam, the government recently directed telecom operators to disconnect entities misusing bulk connections. Over the past two weeks, 350,000 numbers have been blocked, and 50 entities blacklisted. Trai has also urged telecom operators to share information on blacklisted entities to prevent them from switching networks and continuing their spamming activities.

Airtel has taken a more aggressive position, advocating for an industry-wide collaboration to monitor all corporate connections and prevent unsolicited commercial communications (UCC), commonly known as spam. Vittal emphasised the need for unified action, stating, “As the telecom industry continues to face the growing challenge of UCC, it has become clear that despite ongoing efforts, more robust and unified mechanisms are required to protect our customers.”

In his letter, which was also sent to Trai chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti and DoT secretary Neeraj Mittal, Vittal further urged telecom operators to take "collective responsibility" in preventing the misuse of corporate connections. He stressed that independent efforts to tackle spam may not benefit consumers and could affect the quality and continuity of services.

“Today, enterprise customers are served by multiple operators, and we are seized of the fact that any independent efforts to address spam may not be in the best interests of customers, as it may impact the quality and continuity of services,” Vittal said.