Philippines Clamps Down on SMS Spam

The Philippines telecoms regulator, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is set to crack down on mobile spamming with its issuance on the Memorandum Circular on rules and Regulations on Broadcast Messaging Services. The Circular was reach after series of consultations and a hearing attended by the general public, telecom service providers, content providers and other interested parties in response to numerous consumer complaints received by the Commission.

Commissioner Ronald Olivar Solis informs the public that under the Rules issued by the Commission, the NTC adopts the OPT-IN REGIME where it is prohibited to send unsolicited commercial messages or spam by SMS or MMS unless the subscriber has given permission or consent.

Under the Circular, a subscriber who has not opted-in shall not be charged for received spams. Subscribers who do not reply to these broadcast/push messages shall be considered to have opted-out and such broadcast should be stopped or subscribers may opt-out without being charged.

Other features of the Circular include that except on paid subscription services, broadcast/push messages shall not be sent between 9:00 P.M. to 7:00 A.M. NTC also requires broadcast messages to display the names of the senders as well as valid addresses or numbers to which subscribers can send their requests to cease broadcast messages. Mobile companies are to act on spam-related complaints within 30 days after they are received from consumers.

Violators of the circular shall subject to the imposition of appropriate administrative and penal sanctions in accordance with law."

Posted to the site on 22nd March 2005