Bharti Airtel and Google have announced a partnership to provide a secure and engaging messaging experience to users in India. By combining Airtel’s network intelligence with Google’s Rich Communications Services (RCS) platform and spam filtering, users can experience RCS messaging with high-quality photo/video content and interactive elements such as message reactions, while benefiting from enhanced protections that reduce mobile spam and digital fraud.
Google’s RCS acquires Airtel’s AI Security: How will this new service work?
Google’s Airtel-backed RCS platform performs real-time checks to enhance message security. Verify the sender’s identity using a communications-based business authentication system. It also honors users’ Do Not Disturb (DND) preferences by categorizing messages as promotional or transactional and applying restrictions where appropriate.The system is designed to prevent spam business messages from reaching users and block harmful links through multiple threat detection layers. Messages from senders flagged by Google and Airtel’s AI-based spam detection tools will also be restricted.Messages sent through the RCS platform can be viewed directly in the Google Messages app, available on most Android smartphones.Airtel and Google collaborate to apply communication style verification and monitoring standards to OTT messaging services. The system combines communication-level verification with platform-based intelligence to enable AI-driven checks for sender authentication, user consent, and real-time threat detection.Brands that use messaging services for corporate communications can now help customers identify verified business messages and distinguish them from spam. This system aims to reduce risks arising from messaging platforms that do not follow a similar verification process.The solution is expected to support customer interactions by providing clearer message identification and additional safety controls. This can help businesses maintain continuous communication with their customers while providing a more secure messaging environment.Over the past year and a half, Airtel has introduced AI-based countermeasures to combat spam and digital fraud across calls and messages. The company says these efforts have blocked 71 billion spam calls and 2.9 billion spam SMS messages. According to Airtel, this has resulted in a 68.7% reduction in monetary losses reported on its network.However, gaps remain within the broader digital ecosystem. Traditional mobile networks operate under defined safety standards and communication protection. In contrast, many non-telecom communication platforms and standalone apps do not follow the same standards. Spam and financial fraud tend to increase on these platforms.To solve this problem, Airtel and Google have decided to work together. They plan to integrate Airtel’s anti-spam features with the RCS protocol. This integration is intended to provide communications-grade security for RCS protocol-based services.
