VietNamNet Bridge – The HCMC Department of Information and Communications will request mobile carriers to take technical measures to prevent unwanted text messages and effectively manage pre-paid subscriptions.

A subscriber reads an unwanted text message on his mobile phone. According to the HCMC Department of Information and Communications, SMS spam and fraudulent texts in the city have fallen in the first quarter of this year

Le Quoc Cuong, deputy director of the department, told reporters last week that the department will take drastic steps to crack down on SMS spam in line with the Ministry of Information and Communications’ Directive 82/CT-BTTTT.

Some mobile service providers have warned their customers of fraudulent texts and calls and applied technical measures against spam. In the coming time, mobile carriers will be required to inform customers of service charges and come up with better solutions to protect their clients.

According to the department, SMS spam and fraudulent texts in HCMC have gone down in the first quarter of this year.

Earlier, the Authority of Information Security said SMS spam sent during the Lunar New Year holiday (Tet) declined. Telecom firms reported that they had blocked 28,000 mobile subscribers sending out SMS spam.

However, SMS spam has not been under control as mobile carriers such as VNPT, Viettel and MobiFone/VMS have not worked out consistent technical solutions and policies to blocking unwanted text messages.

To prevent SMS spam, the department said it is important to effectively manage pre-paid mobile subscribers and mobile carriers should be determined to solve SMS spam. The department will coordinate with relevant agencies to monitor registrations of pre-paid mobile subscribers.

Early last month, operators of call centers and providers of mobile information services in HCMC like FPT Telecom, Viettel, VinaPhone and MobiFone pledged to implement Directive 82 on preventing spam and fraudulent SMS and enhancing information management on their networks.

SGT