Fight Against Annoying Cellphone Ads Still Underway

EghtesadOnline: As part of a move to curb unwanted and annoying text message ads, Iran’s Communications Regulatory Authority has blocked over 131,000 cellphone numbers since November 2017, when an automated monitoring system was launched.

News ID: ۷۸۴۷۴۹

08 July 2019

Through the system, people can file complaints with CRA by sending the ad sender’s phone number via text message. 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 messages that many consider as spam.

CRA’s website reports that 131,214 SIMs used for sending advertisement messages have been blocked until July 7.

Experts say the cost of mass advertisement through text messages is significantly low. The authority is planning to curb the number of such adverts by cracking down on firms indulging in the method that for long has become a nuisance, Financial Tribune reported.

Officials at CRA have repeatedly called on the people to assist the authority in its’ endeavors to curb text ads by submitting the ad senders’ number to the system.

Mobile operators are also prohibited from sending ad messages to subscribers. They can only send bill alert notifications.

Unwanted ads annoy most cellphone users. To curb the nuisance, CRA introduced the automated system ‘195’ to help subscribers get rid of the ad messages.