Unsolicited Text Messengers Defy NCC's Warnings

Telecommunication subscribers are beginning to feel embarrassed with the avalanche of unsolicited calls and text messages that hit their mobile phones on a daily basis, in spite of warnings from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the industry regulator, to stop the action.

The subscribers have therefore called on  NCC to make further efforts in addressing the situation, which they  have said, constitutes  distractions and overloading of their phone memory, where text messages are stored.

Although telecoms operators have

denied sending unsolicited text messages and calls to subscribers, but the messages and calls keep coming from their networks, an indication that they are not oblivious of the menace plaguing subscribers.

Some of the text messages come in coded numbers from 3036, 5040, 504-0, 410-0, 502-9, 502-1, 503-1, 335-50, 548-84,  202-41, 450-0, 333-30, 203-30, 5032, 4500, 7078, 22865, among other coded numbers. Some of the messages that come from the coded numbers, reads: 'Do you wish to receive N400 free credit? Dial *200# once and load N200 to get guaranteed, "Enjoy non-stop chatting on Whatsapp, ' MTN sports...., "Enjoy instant and unlimited MTN airtime in the Brain-Wave-Game. Answer now! Which is the currency of Nigeria? A. Dollar B. Pound C. Naira. Send A, B or C to 5032,' 'Recharge with N500 and dial *170*25#, get 50% off on calls to US, Canada, India, China and UK (Fixed). Others are 'The secrets of wealth are at your finger tips. Learn how to be successful in your business. Text Quotes to 5040 at N50/week to get daily business quotes,' 'Dear valued subscriber, two days left. Recharge N4000 by tomorrow and get 50 per cent bonus talk time Glo to Glo, Glo Unlimited,' 'Investing in the stock market can be confusing, yet very rewarding. Get daily MTN stock market tips for business at just N50/week. Send YES to 5040 to subscribe.'

One of the subscribers to MTN, Airtel and Globacom, who gave his name as Mr. Francis Udoh, said: "The annoying part of it is that even if the subscribers decide to ignore the text messages that asked them to subscribe to a particular code, the network will still go ahead to subscribe for the person, and begin to debit subscribers' accounts without their consent." Udo told THISDAY that a particular network called him to ask for his consent to register him on its promo, where N300 will be deducted from his account weekly and he will be credited instantly with N600, which he must use up at the end of the same week. He said he explicitly told the network not to register him in any promo, but that the network kept calling his line persistently to the extent that he refused picking the calls, but that to his greatest surprise, he was registered for the promo and debited without his consent.

He said network operators would  force subscribers into what they do not want to do, all in the name of defrauding subscribers. He called on NCC to intervene without further delay.

Telecoms lawyer, Jiti Ogunye, a subscriber to Airtel and Globacom, told THISDAY that unsolicited text messages from network operators, are calculated attempts to rip-off subscribers of their money. He said his phone lines were bombarded with unnecessary SMS from network operators on a daily basis, thereby putting so much pressure on his phone battery and subsequently running it down.

Mrs. Gloria Ajayi, another subscriber who spoke on the issue of unsolicited SMS and calls, said she gets frustrated when she rushes to grab her phone to answer an incoming call, only to start hearing music and message asking her to subscribe to a promo from the network. According to her, "Most time the call comes at a time when I am expecting some important business calls and I will rush with expectations only to receive unsolicited calls," she said.

Others who spoke, said the network operators used to make unsolicited calls with coded numbers like 445, 555, and 434, but that since subscribers started ignoring such coded calls, the operators have devised a new method of using a complete 11 digit specialised phone numbers to make unsolicited calls, in order to compel unsuspecting subscribers to pick such calls.

Addressing both subscribers and service providers at the 76th edition of the Telecom Consumer Parliament in Lagos last month, the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah said the commission would continue to address the issue of subscribers' rights and interests. He warned telecoms operators to desist from sending out unsolicited SMS, and to concentrate on the core value of their operations, which is to provide quality service to all subscribers. The network operators however denied any involvement in sending unsolicited messages to subscribers, yet the unsolicited SMS and calls kept coming in.

General Manager, Network Operations at Globacom, Mr. Olajide Aremu, said Globacom did not send unsolicited messages to subscribers, and blamed the challenge on content service providers whom he said,  had  been taking  advantage of operators' networks to send all manners of text messages to subscribers. He, however, said Globacom had introduced an application called 'Do Not Disturb' that will enable customers block all unsolicited messages coming to their mobile phones.

Thisday