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Spam-sending telecom firms threatened with revocation of licenses
28/03/2014
The Communication and Information Technology Commission (CITC) has warned telecom service providers against disseminating spam messages and has threatened violators with fines or even license revocation.
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Article
The CITC has also called on mobile phone subscribers to report spam messages to enable the commission to take legal action against violators. Sultan bin Mohammad Al-Malik, director-general of Public Relations and Information at the commission, said that the commission places emphasis on subscriber privacy. "Subscribers have the right to define what they do or do not wish to receive from service providers," he said. "Sending messages without subscribers' prior consent is considered a violation."
"The commission takes such complaints very seriously; violators are fined and licenses are revoked in extreme cases," he said. Al-Malik responded to a column written by Mohammad Al-Aheidib, where the writer attacked the CITC for failing to prevent the circulation of spam messages, saying that the commission is sharpening efforts to curb the phenomenon. Penalties are applicable to both telecom and Internet service providers, he said. "The commission does not have access to subscribers' incoming messages and cannot know if these messages were approved by the subscriber," he said. "Reporting such messages is crucial because it facilitates the work of the commission in stopping this phenomenon altogether."
The commission has developed a mechanism on its website to receive subscriber complaints. Subscribers are required to provide the date and time the message was sent, the symbol contained in the message and whether the message was sent as a name or a number. "Subscribers can file complaints directly with the CITC if their service provider fails to comply without the need for registering new information," he said. The commission also refuted the writer's criticism of the lack of free roaming services in the Kingdom, saying most telecom customers globally do not provide free roaming services but that some local providers enable subscribers to receive free calls while abroad. |
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