Airtel Business launches IQ Gateway to secure enterprise customer communications

NEW DELHI: Airtel Business has launched Airtel IQ Gateway, a telco-grade network intelligence platform designed to bring multiple enterprise customer communication channels onto a single control plane.

The DPDP-compliant platform combines SMS, WhatsApp, RCS, business voice and number verification through Silent Authentication, allowing enterprises to manage multiple communication channels and service providers from one platform.

The offering is aimed at businesses that currently rely on fragmented communication stacks, with limited visibility into message delivery and growing exposure to fraud, spam and regulatory risks. Airtel said failed messages can sometimes be reported as delivered, while international OTP pumping by bots can inflate communication costs.

Airtel IQ Gateway brings these functions together through a central control system, with real-time delivery visibility, intelligent routing and automatic switching to backup service providers. It also integrates Airtel’s native message template system, DLT, to simplify the management of pre-approved communication templates.

The platform uses Airtel’s network intelligence and fraud protection capabilities, including IQ Verify and Silent Authentication. IQ Verify evaluates network, device and usage signals to identify potentially fraudulent account creation and takeover attempts, while also helping enterprises detect artificial traffic spikes that can contribute to inflated messaging costs.

Silent Authentication enables number verification by checking whether the number entered by a customer matches the active SIM in the device. The network-first approach is designed to reduce dependence on OTP SMS for login and SIM-binding flows while lowering the risks associated with SIM swaps and social engineering.

Airtel Business CEO Sharat Sinha said the company was extending its network-level fraud prevention capabilities from consumer services to enterprise communications.

“Secure-by-design customer engagement is today the bedrock on which enterprises can scale with confidence,” Sinha said, adding that IQ Gateway would help enterprises build brand trust while making customer conversations safer, authenticated and resilient.

The platform can be integrated with existing communication workflows and vendor ecosystems. Enterprises can deploy it on their own premises or host it on Airtel’s cloud as a SaaS offering, depending on their security and deployment requirements.

Airtel said IQ Gateway has been launched nationwide following trial deployments with select banks, financial institutions and other industry partners. The platform is targeted particularly at sectors such as banking, financial services, government, e-commerce and logistics, where reliable customer communication and fraud prevention are critical.

The platform also provides network-level delivery reports, allowing enterprises to gain greater visibility into the actual status of their communications rather than relying solely on vendor-level delivery reports.

Airtel Business will showcase IQ Gateway at its booth at the India Mobile Congress from 7 to 10 October 2026.