Iran's Fight Against Annoying Mobile Ads Continues

EghtesadOnline: The Communications Regulatory Authority said on Tuesday that it has blocked 30,000 ad sender numbers since November 2017 in a move to curb unwanted and annoying text messages.

News ID: ۷۴۶۳۲۶

12 December 2018

CRA Director Hossein Fallah cautions that the fight against ad senders is far from over as “there always are new companies involved in text message advertisement campaigns,” CITNA reported.

Fallah underlined that the cost of mass advertisement through text messaging is still very low compared to other means of commercial promotion. The ombudsman is planning to curb the number of such adverts by cracking down on firms employing the method which has long been a nuisance.

The CRA has introduced an automated system, through which people can file complaints against the ad senders by sending their phone number to the communications ombudsman via text message, according to Financial Tribune.

People can simply send the ad senders’ number to 195. The regulator receives the complaints and blocks the number after issuing warnings, if the advertising company continues sending the ads—which many consider as spam. The authority blocked almost 3,000 numbers in the first week after the system was launched.

Fallah again appealed to the people to assist the CRA in its endeavors aimed at curbing text ads by submitting the ad senders’ number to the system.

The unwanted messages are an annoyance for cell phone users in and outside Iran.