Truecaller Phone App Maker in Talks With Airtel About Africa
- Swedish company plans expansion into phones with 2G services
- South Africa now fastest-growing market for caller ID service
Pedestrians stand beside an advertisement for Bharti Airtel in N'Djamena, Chad, on Aug. 15, 2017.
Photographer: Xaume Olleros/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Swedish phone-app developer True Software Scandinavia AB is in talks with wireless operators including Bharti Airtel Ltd. to expand its fast-growing Truecaller spam-filtering service in Africa.
Truecaller is seeking to roll out a version of the app that works with 2G phones, Chief Commercial Officer Ted Nelson said in an interview in Cape Town on Wednesday. About 70 percent of cell users in Africa use so-called service phones -- devices that aren’t classed as smartphones. The company already has more than 50 million customers on the continent using the more advanced handsets.