Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy, William Kabogo. Photo | courtesy.
Airtel Kenya has introduced an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered spam alert service, marking a significant milestone in mobile security across the continent.
This innovative service, which is free and automatically activated for all Airtel subscribers, aims to protect users from fraudulent and unsolicited Short Message Service (SMS) messages.
The AI system analyzes over 250 parameters, including message frequency and sender patterns, without accessing the content of the messages.
This approach ensures user privacy while effectively identifying suspicious messages. According to Airtel, the system processes over 18 million messages in real time, classifying them as “Suspected SPAM” when necessary.
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Managing Director of Airtel Kenya, Ashish Malhotra, emphasized the company’s commitment to customer safety and digital innovation.
“At Airtel, for us, customer feedback and experience are at the center of our business solutions and decisions and strategies. We are firm believers that we are only as good as our customer experiences. In light of that, we endeavor to provide our customers with the best possible products,” said Malhotra.
The launch of this service comes amid rising concerns over SMS scams and fraud targeting mobile phone users in Kenya. David Mugonyi, Director General of the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), noted, “SMS scams have become a growing menace.
Last year, the problem became so pronounced that the authority had to issue an alert to Kenyans to take caution while receiving messages.”
Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy, William Kabogo, highlighted Kenya’s leadership in digital innovation.
“This is the first such AI-driven service from a system in Africa, and Kenya is proud to be the first country on the continent where it has been deployed,” Kabogo remarked.
Airtel’s AI-powered spam alert service is now available to all subscribers, regardless of whether they use smartphones or feature phones, ensuring widespread accessibility and impact.
The company plans to expand this service across its entire African network, following its initial success in Nigeria.
Dinesh Balsingh, Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Nigeria, expressed confidence in the service’s effectiveness, stating, “We are happy to be offering this service to Nigerians and its subsequent expansion across Airtel’s African operations.”
