Mobile phone subscribers in the UAE say spam text messages are growing out of control and it is time to clamp down on them, as questions are raised as to how marketing companies get hold of databases with over a million numbers.
These messages are extremely irritating and annoying as they are unsolicited.
Mobile subscribers and marketing executives say that while the rise of SMS marketing is a cause of subscriber frustration, the boiling point is often reached when a glitch in the system causes one subscriber to receive the same message up to 200 times.
Most of those complaining about spam messages have been etisalat subscribers. The UAE’s second telecom company du is relatively new and marketing companies have not got hold of du databases yet.
Spam text messages are great business for advertising companies and their clients. Clients can be sure they reach their targets directly, and advertising companies can make “a killing” on one mass text message.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said in a statement that it is “against the law for the licensed telecom operators in the UAE to either sell mobile number databases without the permission and clear approval paperwork of the number holder, or send unsolicited promotional text messages on behalf of a third party”
Source: Gulf News
