JEDDAH, 19 September 2007 — Sultan Al-Malek, spokesman for the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), has issued a stern warning to companies that spam uninvited SMS messages to customers, saying these companies could face fines of up to SR5 million or even a cancellation of their business licenses.
The warning comes after the CITC has received reports of customers complaining about the flurry of Ramadan-related SMS marketing messages arriving to their mobile phones, many of which sound much like the types of junk mail that clutter people’s in-boxes.
“Congratulations, you have won a valuable prize, please call ... to know how will you receive it,” reads one SMS message. Other messages wish people “Ramadan kareem” followed with an invitation to a store’s holiday sale.
The CITC, which acts as a governmental consumer advocate in information technology, says these SMS messages are a violation of privacy and the right to be left alone. The warning was published in many local newspapers to put companies on notice.
The CITC says that all SMS marketing should include instructions on how to be removed from a marketing list. The CITC also pointed out that it was illegal to offer cash or prizes, legitimately or otherwise, as an SMS marketing tool.
“We have already stopped a number of violating companies and imposed the stated penalty on them,” said Malek, without providing the names of any companies that have been reportedly been punished. “These companies are very easy to be tracked. I urge people not to respond to these messages, which are basically made to extort their money,” Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper quoted him as saying.
An official at Mobily, the Kingdom’s second telecommunications provider, says these SMS messages place a burden on the network, clogging the system.
“Our company is suffering because of this kind of violation,” said Mobily spokesman Hamoud Al-Ghobainy. “The call costs the customer from SR5 to SR7 per minute without his knowledge”
Al-Ghobainy said Mobily blocks numbers where these SMS messages originate, but they need customers to report them in order to be tipped off to the racket.
