DOHA: Qtel is taking up an enhanced range of measures designed to reduce spam in Qatar this year. The move was in response to a phenomenon Qtel has observed about unwanted "spam" SMS that circulated in recent months, cluttering people's mobile mail boxes, sometimes waking them up at night, and often causing unnecessary disturbance.
The company has introduced a mobile premium messages services code for companies that use SMS to communicate with customers, with harsh penalties including fines and even potential disconnection for businesses that use spam to advertise to customers.
With the new code in place, all content providers have agreed that there will be no unsolicited mobile messages terminating on the Qtel network originating from any network. Qtel customers should always provide prior permission for receipt of any SMS messages.
Premium content providers have all agreed to a code of conduct that enables customers to discontinue receiving messages by sending the short code "STOP" along with the name of the service. In addition, the company has successfully introduced an international SMS filter, which prevents spam SMS coming from overseas. The filter prevents SMS coming from dubious international sources (for example, a Sender ID "Lottery Winner" originating from Luxembourg), with the exception of a small number of legitimate registered companies.
Live since January 2010, the service has blocked millions of spam SMS every month since then, and has been upgraded this year to provide even stronger support. The same system is currently being tested to implement the anti-spam filter for SMS being sent from roaming mobile phones. New technology is also being deployed to measure and track suspicious network activity, and flag high-volume users.
To help customers, Qtel has also published an updated list of recommendations and options to avoid spam. These include:
*Protect mobile numbers. Customers should only provide mobile contact details to stores, restaurants or websites when absolutely necessary.
*Avoid leaving business and visiting cards in stores and raffles unless you want to receive marketing information.
*Block SMS from companies in Qatar when you need to. Customers can request promotional messages from specific companies in Qatar to be blocked from their phones. To do so, customers can send UNSUB to 92600 (e.g. send the text "UNSUB 92699" to 92600 in order to stop receiving messages from 92699).
*Similarly, you can block most promotional SMS from companies in Qatar by sending UNSUBALL to 92600 (e.g. send the text "UNSUB ALL" to 92600). Please consider these options carefully before using, since they may block even previously-solicited messages.
*For premium message services, customers can opt out by sending the message "STOP" to the specific short-code, along with the name of the service.
*Be cautious when receiving calls from unknown numbers and never share any details over the phone with an unsolicited caller.
*Do not send messages to network "short codes" unless you are aware of the organisation requesting these details and have made prior contact.
© The Peninsula 2011
