Telecom NZ block bulk international SMSs?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Telecom NZ block bulk international SMSs?

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bonkiebonks

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#457467 11-Apr-2011 12:52

I'm not sure if it has been mentioned here before, but it I believe this blocking of bulk international SMS is impacting on FaceTime activation on iPhone 4 as per this discussion on the iPhonewzealand forum:

http://www.iphonewzealand.co.nz/forum/telecom-xt/facetime-still-waiting-for-activation/

sbiddle

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#457469 11-Apr-2011 12:58

timmmay:
sbiddle:
Have you raised the issue with the provider you're paying money to? What was their response?

No, but I will. I figure there's not much point though, a global operator probably doesn't much care if one telecom in one little country blocks texts. I doubt they'd want to have to sign a contract with every telecoms operator in the world, I have no idea how international txt delivery works though.

Your relationship is with the provider of the service, not with Telecom.

Understanding how international SMS works, in particular the hybrid BAK and BAK agreements, will in part give you the answers you are after. There have been plenty of examples of this very same thing happening globally in recent years.

freitasm

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#457488 11-Apr-2011 13:34

bonkiebonks: I'm not sure if it has been mentioned here before, but it I believe this blocking of bulk international SMS is impacting on FaceTime activation on iPhone 4 as per this discussion on the iPhonewzealand forum:?

http://www.iphonewzealand.co.nz/forum/telecom-xt/facetime-still-waiting-for-activation/

?

It was mentioned and it seems related to ported numbers. Please read the thread for more information.

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nate

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#457512 11-Apr-2011 14:30

extremesurfer: Replying to the earlier post regarding ripoff fees - I work for one of the named SMS providers listed earlier (the oldest one) and we do offer a free prepay API access for the SME market - with fees only for usage.

Fees are optional to cover support/SLA. If you want it cheap and cheerful you can have it that way.

Interesting. Can you PM me more info?

richms

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#457549 11-Apr-2011 15:44

You only have the right to use the number assigned to you on the device that you have from the telco. So spoofing the telecom/vodafone number from skype etc is not within the scope of what you have licensed that number to be used for. Not telecoms problem if you try to spoof a number and it doesnt work.

IMO blocking the spoofed numbers is a GOOD thing since there is no procedure to authenticate that any "authorization" of the spoofing is still valid, or even was valid to start with, as only the telco that the number belongs to is able to authorize it, not the end user of the number, just like as an xtra customer you are not able to go authorizing your server in Mongolia or Lichtenstein to start sending out emails perporting to be from an xtra address that you are currently using.

Richard rich.ms

timmmay

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#457550 11-Apr-2011 15:46

That's a fair point. I can get a virtual number if required, with FishText.

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hellonearthisman

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#457561 11-Apr-2011 16:34

extremesurfer: Offshore spam is annoying, impersonal and alarming. Telecom have made a gutsy stand.

Would you like your kids to be receiving adult txt messages from offshore? Thats whats been happening. Not only that, but you can't opt out because offshore providers don't have to abide by any rules.?

Its the case of isolated abuse ruining it for everyone. Thats the bitter pill to swallow.

Replying to the earlier post regarding ripoff fees -?I work for one of the named SMS providers listed earlier (the oldest one) and we do offer a free prepay API access for the SME market - with fees only for usage.?

Fees are optional to cover support/SLA. If you want it cheap and cheerful you can have it that way.

Why doesn't telecom provide a whitelist sms service, so that you only get txt's from your friends and family. What telecom have done is chucked the baby out with the bathwater.

And on the person to person thing, it also looks like, if your not a paying customer then your not a person.

johnr:
timmmay:
sbiddle:
Have you raised the issue with the provider you're paying money to? What was their response?

No, but I will. I figure there's not much point though, a global operator probably doesn't much care if one telecom in one little country blocks texts. I doubt they'd want to have to sign a contract with every telecoms operator in the world, I have no idea how international txt delivery works though.

Well your beef is not with Telecom NZ then is it??

So what if they make a good profit, I don't see Telecom NZ Charity above the door

John

You can't see the charity sign? Isn't that what NZ user have been paying into as an antispam fee on sms messages to prevent spamming. That pile of money used to prevent spamming in NZ does look more like charity when it's not used to help prevent spam, it looks like it's other use is to help improve profits.

BarTender

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#457600 11-Apr-2011 19:58

hellonearthisman: And on the person to person thing, it also looks like, if your not a paying customer then your not a person.

If you're a 02x number in New Zealand, you are able to send SMS's to any other 02x number in New Zealand. What's happened here is that pretending (even if you authorize an international SMS provider with your number) to be a 02x number outside NZ is no longer accepted and rejected as spam.

hellonearthisman: Isn't that what NZ user have been paying into as an antispam fee

Has International Bill and Keep (BAK) been introduced? I'm not sure but I don't think so.

A great post from Steve a while ago about MTRs.

The reason for the hybrid system and not a true bill and keep solution is primarily at attempt to stop the proliferation of unsolicited SMS messages, in a true BAK model with no restrictions it’s possible for a network to actively sign up users whose only intention is to deliver unsolicited SMS messages to users on other networks.

Well said Steve!!

sbiddle

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#457606 11-Apr-2011 20:19

hellonearthisman: You can't see the charity sign? Isn't that what NZ user have been paying into as an antispam fee on sms messages to prevent spamming. That pile of money used to prevent spamming in NZ does look more like charity when it's not used to help prevent spam, it looks like it's other use is to help improve profits.

There is not and never has been such a thing as an "anti spam" levy. I'm not sure why you think there is.

One thing that many people are forgetting is that SMS delivery DOES cost money. Even if the true cost is around 1c per mesage (or slightly lower if you're to looking at modelling from some regulators). It is not a service that is "free" as it still uses resources on the network.

The options for regulators are to either set a termination rate charging of that 1c, or adopt a BAK or hybrid BAK billing model where no money changes hands because traffic levels should remain in balance. Pure BAK works fine for local calling here in NZ because the law says that local calls have to be free. Business modelling of pure BAK for a product that has a true cost tends to show up the failings, in much the same way we've seen peering issues around the world with the internet.

jerryb

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#458107 13-Apr-2011 08:30

Morning all.

Some interesting points raised, that will no doubt have me pondering for some time. However, as an impacted consumer, my most immediate concern is when I can start receiving Teamer notifications again?

Akia - any news about whether the Teamer.net SMS notifications will be allowed? (see their posts earlier in this topic)

While I'm typing - a quick tip of my hat to Teamer and their customer service. Emails have been answered straight away. Problem diagnosis is good, from people who seem to know things and don't just follow scripts. Thoroughly helpful. I'm not trying to market them - their service might be irrelevant to many people here. I just want to salute their attitude.

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