Sunday, August 12, 2007 Ban sought on unsolicited text gimmicks by telecom firms
SENATE Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. has batted for the immediate enactment of a law that will prohibit telecommunication companies from sending unwanted text messages on promos that they offer to both post-paid and pre-paid accounts.
Pimentel said the unsolicited text messages do not spare anyone, not even minors, resulting in an increase of their phone bills or rapid consumption of their pre-paid call credit.
“The bill seeks to regulate these indiscriminate offerings by prohibiting any matter sent by cellphone companies via text or SMS which are not solicited by the subscriber,” he said.
He observed that as competition among cellphone companies gets fiercer, the customers rapidly become victims since the companies look at them as a sustainable market by sending them gimmicks, subscriptions and contests by increasing their availment of cellphone service.
“More often than not, unknowing customers have been victimized by such offerings sent by cellphone companies via text or short message service, only to realize later that such contest and subscriptions have jacked up their monthly bills or consumed all of their pre-paid credits,” he said. (CPB/Sunnex)
