Telecom NZ block bulk international SMSs?

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lukegm

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#80270 29-Mar-2011 22:15

Hi

I've heard that Telecom NZ has blocked bulk international SMS's, basically cheap SMS's from overseas aggregators and marketing companies. In particular numbers that are source number masked so they appear to be from New Zealand numbers.

So basically any SMS’s coming from international carriers to Telecom NZ with a NZ phone number are blocked (i.e. won’t be received by the end user).

Does anyone know why Telecom NZ has done this? Is it to protect revenue? Were too many NZ businesses were starting to use international carriers to send their SMSs? But I really don't know.

Also does anyone know if this ban is likely to be extended to other SMS functions or other NZ carriers?

Out of curiosity does any know if it has impacted local businesses using international providers as a cheaper alternative to local carriers?

Thanks in advance

Cheers
Luke

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#453306 29-Mar-2011 22:21

assuming it is true, i imagine it would be because people hate getting spammed.

freitasm

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#453312 29-Mar-2011 22:35

I have just sent a SMS to myself via my Clickatel API access and it wasn't delivered. Usually it arrived in a matter of seconds...

1eStar

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#453327 29-Mar-2011 23:22

I never received texts sent to my telecomXT phone from skype last week (Thursday)

lukegm

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#453330 29-Mar-2011 23:27

Aren't SPAM issues normally handled on a case by case basis? If a particular company or aggregator is SPAMing then isn't that company held accountable or their numbers blocked? Blocking all international providers seems like a severe action to take if SPAM was the issue.

How many web applications' SMS functionality would have stopped working?

freitasm what do you use your clickatell SMS API for?

Are these sort of policy changes normally published by Telecom NZ somewhere?

akia

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#453380 30-Mar-2011 08:58

Due to the high levels of text SPAM we continue to recieve we block all international traffic incoming to a New Zealand number unless it comes from an approved carrier.

However I will pass on all feedback to the product management teams around your concerns.

hellonearthisman

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#453386 30-Mar-2011 09:10

Would be nice if users where given the option to block or not for the different sms services.

akia

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#453389 30-Mar-2011 09:16

hellonearthisman: Would be nice if users where given the option to block or not for the different sms services.

There is no choice to block individually this is a global change on our system.

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freitasm

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#453390 30-Mar-2011 09:23

lukegm: freitasm what do you use your clickatell SMS API for?

We used it to allow users to send SMS to other users with kinks to articles. We stopped using that a couple of years ago but planned to start sending out notifications of forum replies and PMs to users.

I also use it to send my own personal SMS (there's a SMS page hidden here on Geekzone that allows me to enter a number and message to send it out).

lukegm

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#453429 30-Mar-2011 11:19

akia: Due to the high levels of text SPAM we continue to recieve we block all international traffic incoming to a New Zealand number unless it comes from an approved carrier.

Do you know if there is any intention to increase the scope of what Telecom NZ is currently blocking? Or will it stay the way it is now?

Can you point me to a list of approved carriers, that I could use to ensure SMS's to NZ numbers don't get blocked?

Thanks

akia

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#453448 30-Mar-2011 12:04

I'll check with someone and let you know

n4

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#453453 30-Mar-2011 12:09

lukegm:
akia: Due to the high levels of text SPAM we continue to recieve we block all international traffic incoming to a New Zealand number unless it comes from an approved carrier.

Do you know if there is any intention to increase the scope of what Telecom NZ is currently blocking? Or will it stay the way it is now?

Can you point me to a list of approved carriers, that I could use to ensure SMS's to NZ numbers don't get blocked?

'approved carriers' = local service providers such as Bulletin, Run the Red, Fronde etc. Anything else is liable to be dodgy/spammy. Cheap=no guarantees in this case.

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old3eyes

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#453462 30-Mar-2011 12:46

I just went to ipipi.com the online SMS service I use and send the same message to my Voda, XT and 2D mobiles. 15 minutes later only the one to 2D has come thru. The 2D one arrived in about 30 seconds..

Is Voda blocking these as well ??

Regards,

Old3eyes

akia

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#453486 30-Mar-2011 14:03

I cannot answer for Vodafone, you will probably need to post a question in their forums to get an answer on that, or if JohnR is surfing the forums.

nate

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#453487 30-Mar-2011 14:04

n4: 'approved carriers' = local service providers such as Bulletin, Run the Red, Fronde etc. Anything else is liable to be dodgy/spammy. Cheap=no guarantees in this case.

Sure this decision, which affects a lot of legitimate people as well, should've been communicated, maybe given warning so other arrangements could be made? I have a lot of clients who use Clickatell, mainly for sending notifications of events, and it seems now we'll have to change providers.

The big issue we have with local providers is cost. Having big setup fees, huge monthly fees for API access is fine if you are a big corporate, but for some of the smaller players, it just isn't economical. Some of the companies you've listed, the monthly access fees are criminal.

Would Telecom entertain the idea of providing a low cost interface for SMS to small businesses?

freitasm

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#453488 30-Mar-2011 14:08

nate: The big issue we have with local providers is cost. Having big setup fees, huge monthly fees for API access is fine if you are a big corporate, but for some of the smaller players, it just isn't economical. Some of the companies you've listed, the monthly access fees are criminal.

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