Observed Signal · Mar 1, 2026 · Partnership · Source: techcrunch · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Google and Airtel Unite to Combat RCS Spam in India
Google and Bharti Airtel have partnered to integrate Airtel’s network-level spam filtering into Google’s Rich Communication Services (RCS) ecosystem in India. The collaboration routes RCS traffic through Airtel’s spam controls to enable real-time checks on business messaging — including sender verification, spam detection, and enforcement of users’ do-not-disturb preferences. India has seen persistent spam and fraud on messaging platforms, and Google temporarily paused business promotions on RCS in India in 2022 amid complaints. Airtel says its AI-led systems have blocked large volumes of spam and reduced fraud-related financial losses; Google signaled the integration could serve as a model for broader carrier collaboration to improve RCS security and trust globally. The companies did not provide quantitative estimates for expected reductions in spam or a timeline for rollout beyond India.
A Google–carrier integration addresses persistent spam and fraud in RCS messaging in India; if effective, the model could be extended to other markets and influence trust and scale of RCS as a business messaging channel.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Bharti Airtel (over 463 million subscribers) partnered with Google to integrate Airtel’s network-level spam filtering into RCS in India.
- The integration combines Airtel’s network intelligence with Google’s RCS platform to enable real-time sender verification, spam detection, and enforcement of do-not-disturb preferences for business messaging.
- Google temporarily paused business promotions on RCS in India in 2022 due to significant complaints about unsolicited ads delivered via Google Messages.
- Airtel reported its AI systems have blocked more than 71 billion spam calls and 2.9 billion spam messages, contributing to a nearly 69% drop in fraud-related financial losses on its network.
- Google said in May 2025 that RCS was handling more than a billion messages daily in the U.S. based on a 28-day average.
Connected Companies & Entities
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Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
India Mandates Caller-ID Apps Share Spam Reports with Telcos
India's telecom regulator, TRAI, has amended rules to require caller-ID and call-management apps, such as Truecaller, to share user spam reports with telecom operators via a blockchain-based platform. The move aims to broaden the spam report pool for enforcement. Truecaller, which has over 500 million monthly active users globally and 350 million in India, called the requirement anti-competitive, citing a one-way exchange of valuable data. The amendments also bring AI-powered and automated calls under the A2P framework, requiring declaration to operators or being treated as spam. Telecom operators may levy termination charges up to 5 paise per minute. The rules raise questions about data sharing scope, enforcement, and consent. India reported around 42 billion spam calls in 2025, with Truecaller blocking 12 billion.
RCS Revolutionizes Mobile Marketing: What You Must Know
RCS (Rich Communication Services) is accelerating as a marketing channel after Apple added RCS support to iPhones (iOS 18) and Apple and Google began testing cross-platform RCS encryption. Adoption and daily usage metrics rose sharply in 2024–2025: Google reported over 1 billion RCS messages daily in May 2025, T-Mobile users sent ~613 million daily RCS messages, and Infobip reported 550% RCS adoption growth in 2024. Vendors and platforms launched RCS-focused features and services — Twilio introduced Rich Content Cards and later announced general availability of RCS for customers, Attentive launched RCS Business Messaging in the U.S., Infobip deployed RCS across the four major U.S. carriers, and Cordial added RCS support. Reports highlight benefits (higher open and click rates) and risks (projected growth in RCS fraud). Marketers and vendors expect RCS to enable richer, measurable mobile experiences and new commerce flows inside messaging.
Google adds AI scam-call warning to Android Phone app
Google has introduced a new AI-based scam-call warning in its Android Phone app to help users detect calls that use AI-generated voices to impersonate contacts. The feature, available free via Google Play and automatically active for users of the Google Phone app, exchanges encrypted real-time data between devices to verify whether the displayed caller is the genuine contact; if verification fails the app pings the alleged contact's device and, based on the response, warns the recipient, reports and blocks the number. The rollout begins this month on Pixel phones and will expand to other Android devices running Android 12 or later. Google built the system on the RCS standard so other companies can implement the same verification in other calling apps.
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