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Etisalat and Du to Block SMS Spam
DUBAI, Jun 07, 2009 (Khaleej Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Spam text messages will be blocked to protect the interests of UAE subscribers, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said on Saturday.
Both of the UAE's telecommunication providers, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, or du, and Etisalat, are investigating ways to block the junk messages, said the authority's Director-General, Mohamed Al Ghanim.
"We received some inquiries on how to face such a quantity of spam SMSs that reach the subscribers' mobile phones," said Mohamed Al Ghanim.
"Hence, we would like to clarify that spam SMSs that broadcast files to be downloaded by the mobile holder are considered a hacking tool.
"We advise the subscribers not to accept the file; bearing in mind that the text SMS in itself is not dangerous, the danger lies in the file when the subscriber accepts to download. Furthermore, we advise subscribers not to give their phone numbers to entities and parties that are unknown to them."
Etisalat has already provided a service to block spam messages. Subscribers may block the short numbers and the source of the message by sending a text including he letter 'b' or the word 'block' followed by the number of the SMS source to 1011.
Du is working on a parallel solution, will enable subscribers to block junk messages. Subscribers will also have the option to unblock the service, Al Ghanim said.
ibrahim@khaleejtimes.com
To see more of the Khaleej Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.khaleejtimes.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Khaleej Times, Dubai, United
Arab Emirates Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For
reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or
847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group
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