Blocking the Buzz: Rostelecom Rolls Out Spam Call Protection Nationwide
Rostelecom has launched a free service called 'Call Anti-Spam' that identifies incoming calls by category—such as banks, government agencies, or companies—and displays that label on a user’s phone screen. The goal is to help subscribers distinguish legitimate calls from scams or ads. The service is available to all mobile users (excluding corporate accounts), activates automatically, and works on most smartphones.
Wider Coverage, Greater Security
The service is now available across Rostelecom’s national network, marking a key step in the company’s broader rollout. With nearly 94% of Russians reporting spam call encounters, the threat is far from trivial. Today’s scammers use increasingly sophisticated social engineering techniques to deceive potential victims.
Rostelecom’s new service is designed to strengthen digital security and rebuild trust in telecom operators. For users, the benefit is clear—less risk of fraud, less wasted time, and better control over call screening. For Russia, the service reflects growing cybersecurity awareness and leadership in telecom-based digital defenses. While not yet widely exported, the solution may be adaptable for use in other markets.
Room for Growth—and Global Expansion
The technology has potential for export to CIS countries, the EU, Latin America, and Southeast Asia—regions facing similar robocall threats. Future upgrades could include integration with voicemail, bank fraud-detection systems, and other anti-fraud technologies.
Telecom operator T2 already employs a multi-layered voice spam defense that uses big data analytics to detect unwanted calls based on their frequency, duration, and user behavior. Such strategies reflect an evolving global best practice in real-time risk analysis.
In Russia, services like this are essential to advancing Big Data capabilities and improving caller identification accuracy. Integrating telecom systems with banking and government platforms could enable real-time source verification of calls.
Tracing the Evolution of Anti-Spam Services
Back in 2020, operator Tele2 launched an anti-fraud platform in collaboration with banks like Tinkoff and Sber. Integrated at both the operator and banking network levels, the system flags communication patterns consistent with fraud and social engineering.
By 2021, anti-spam tools were flagging 5–6 million unwanted calls every day. That same year, Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service and major carriers signed a memorandum to fight phone spam using big data and machine learning—while ensuring users opt in before call blocking occurs.
The Russian telecom watchdog, Roskomnadzor, deployed the Antifraud system to combat spoofed numbers. From December 2022 to August 2023, it prevented around 400 million scam calls. All major operators are connected to the Antifraud network. The average scam attempt lasts around three minutes per target.
In mid-2025, MegaFon launched its own free anti-spam service. The system uses AI to route suspicious calls to a separate voicemail inbox automatically.
Forecasting the Fight Ahead
More operators are expected to follow Rostelecom’s lead by offering call labels and intelligent filtering. The trend points to telecoms actively adopting voice security tools.
Artificial intelligence and Big Data will become key to categorizing calls with greater accuracy. Deeper integrations with financial institutions, public agencies, and caller verification registries are also on the horizon.
The service has clear export potential, appealing to telecom and financial sectors worldwide. Still, it raises privacy and data governance questions that will demand transparency and robust safeguards.
