Differentiate unsolicited calls from messages: Tata Tele

New Delhi: The Telecom regulatory authority should impose severe penalty for unsolicited commercial calls than messages which are more acceptable, said telecom provider Tata Teleservices (TTSL).

"It is rather unfortunate that the debate is not aligned to understanding difference between disturbance and nuisance of a telemarketer's voice calls, vis-a-vis spam e-mail or spam SMS," said A.G. Rao, chief technology officer, TTSL.

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According to him, messages reach out to people who are in dire need of information at very low cost.

"Indian telecom operators have received acclaim for reworking the costs of telecom to reach out to the masses and be a driver for economic growth. A farmer in a village or a fisherman is today happy to receive an SMS on crop prices, weather information, etc. any other form of public disbursement of information would have cost 100 times more," said Rao.

It would, thus, be useful if the methodology to register in national do not call registry (NDNC) registry is simplified, as also spam calls and messages be differentiated so that call nuisance be addressed more than text e-mail and message spam.

The government recently said it will soon curb unsolicited commercial calls and messages which have become an irritant for mobile phone users across the country.

The telecom regulatory authority of India (TRAI) also had an open house discussion on the issue with various stake holders last month.

TRAI has so far made several attempts to curb the menace of unsolicited commercial calls, including creating "Do Not Call Registry" where subscribers who do not wish to receive unsolicited commercial calls can register, however, there has not been much success.
Source: IANS