Persistent spam complaints have overshadowed Google’s push for Rich Communication Services (RCS) in India. In response, the company is pursuing deeper integration with telecom carriers to strengthen protections on the platform.
Bharti Airtel, India’s second-largest telecom operator with over 463 million subscribers, announced a partnership with Google to integrate its network-level spam filtering into the RCS ecosystem. The collaboration aims to bolster defenses against unwanted messages and fraud.
India presents a uniquely challenging market for spam and fraud across messaging platforms. This is driven by the country’s vast mobile user base, rapid growth in digital payments, and aggressive marketing practices by businesses. In 2022, complaints about unsolicited ads delivered via Google Messages were so significant that Google temporarily paused business promotions on RCS in India. User reports indicate that spam remains a persistent frustration.
Airtel stated it had been cautious about deeper alignment with Google’s RCS until message traffic could be routed through its own spam controls, highlighting carrier concerns about rising fraud risks. An Airtel spokesperson explained that the company had not onboarded Google until this routing was possible.
Under the new partnership, Airtel’s network intelligence will combine with Google’s RCS platform to enable real-time checks on business messaging. This includes sender verification, spam detection, and enforcement of user do-not-disturb preferences. Airtel described the integration as a global first for directly incorporating a telecom operator’s spam filtering into an over-the-top messaging platform.
Sameer Samat, president of the Android ecosystem at Google, commented on the commitment to work with carriers to create a trusted messaging experience for RCS users worldwide. This signals Google may extend the model beyond India as it works to standardize security across the RCS ecosystem.
India is a critical market for Google’s messaging ambitions, with over a billion internet users and more than 700 million smartphone users. The country is also home to over 853 million WhatsApp users, illustrating the intense competition in mobile messaging.
Industry analyst Prabhu Ram noted that this deeper carrier integration aims to address longstanding vulnerabilities in rich messaging ecosystems to spam and fraud. He stated that the partnership’s success should be measured by reductions in spam volume, user complaints, and fraud incidence, alongside improved engagement with legitimate messages.
Airtel has intensified its anti-spam efforts over the past year, reporting that its AI-led systems have blocked over 71 billion spam calls and 2.9 billion spam messages. The company claims these measures have helped drive a nearly 69 percent reduction in fraud-related financial losses on its network.
Google has been positioning RCS as the successor to SMS, announcing in May 2025 that the standard was handling over a billion messages daily in the United States based on a 28-day average. The company did not specify whether similar carrier integrations are planned for other markets or provide estimates on potential spam reduction from this move.