Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has directed all telecom operators to censor obscene, indecent, false and fabricated content transmitted through short message service (SMS), however, mobile phone users will not get any respite from annoying marketing messages, Pakistan Today learnt on Wednesday.
In a recently issued circular, the telecom watchdog has asked all cellular operators to set up an effective SMS filtering mechanism by November 21. It has also issued a couple of catalogues containing more than 1,600 words and phrases, in both English and Urdu languages, which will be blocked during transmission. The Telecom regulator has also asked all mobile phone companies to submit a monthly report indicating the total number of blocked messages by each operator.
However, regarding the SMS marketing and spamming, telecom sources indicate that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for the PTA to force operators to block SMS spamming. They pointed out that cellular operators were earning significant revenue from bulk text messaging, and that no operator was willing to surrender its profit in a competitive regime where operators are striving hard to attract new customers or retain existing subscribers.