[kictanet] SPAM/OPT IN/OPT OUT MARKETING FROM THE TELCOS - DEATH BY SMS

[Ali Hussein]

Adam

Number portability has been with us for several years now. Though that's
not the point.

Basic opt in and out principles call for them to put mechanisms in place so
that we dont feel abused.. this is not a Freemium service that justifies
the kind of practices that Telcos in this country practice and sadly get
away with.

I would love to hear the regulator's take on this.

Ali Hussein
 On 2 May 2013 15:05, "Adam Nelson" <adam at varud.com> wrote:

> On a related note, does Kenya have phone number portability so that people
> can just switch carriers.  I personally think structural solutions like
> that are better than regulatory ones like banning SMS alerts (although I
> would certainly be in favor of that too).
>
> In the US, one can switch a phone number to another carrier in under an
> hour.
>
> https://twitter.com/varud
> https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamcnelson
>
>
> On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 1:48 PM, Andrea Bohnstedt <
> andrea.bohnstedt at ratio-magazine.com> wrote:
>
>> I have - slightly laboriously - managed to get myself unsubscribed from
>> Airtel's permanent (and sometimes badly spelled and edited) text messages
>> by contacting someone in the firm I knew. But since then, Safcom's
>> messaging has really picked up, so if there's anyone on this list has a
>> contact (or an automated mechanism) to opt out, I'd also like to know.
>>
>> Plus any way of preventing the Safaricom dongle from automatically
>> opening their bundles website?
>>
>>
>> On 2 May 2013 14:38, Ali Hussein <ali at hussein.me.ke> wrote:
>>
>>> Listers
>>>
>>> If you are like me you must by now be going out of your mind with
>>> useless SMS messages from the different players in the Telco sector.
>>>
>>> Is there some rule somewhere that CCK can dust off and ask them to stop
>>> sending these SMSs to 'abused' subscribers like myself.
>>>
>>>  Or at the very least could you at least give us an option to Opt Out of
>>> this deluge of useless (in my opinion) SMSs?
>>>
>>> In my case I am specifically referring to Safaricom. I know that
>>> Safaricom has sophisticated Mass Customisation tools and if they use their
>>> Analytic Tools they would have known that for a Muslim (assuming in the
>>> majority of cases they would make deductions by name usage) a message that
>>> reads:-
>>>
>>> *'Watch Pastor Tim's Sunday Sermon...' *
>>>
>>> is particularly useless for a Muslim. If I were a Conspiracy Theorist
>>> (Luckily I am not. :-)) I may start making assumptions that Safaricom wants
>>> to convert me to a Christian.
>>>
>>> Dear Safaricom, please give me an option to opt out of your SMS deluge..
>>>
>>> Death by SMS :-)
>>>
>>>
>>> *Ali Hussein*
>>>
>>> *CEO, 3mice interactive media ltd*
>>>
>>> *Partner, Telemedia Africa Ltd
>>> *
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Tel: +254713601113
>>>
>>> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>>>
>>> Skype: abu-jomo
>>>
>>> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim<http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim>
>>>
>>> Blog: www.alyhussein.com
>>>
>>>
>>> Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely
>>> mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the
>>> organizations that I work with.
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Andrea Bohnstedt <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/andreabohnstedt>
>> Publisher
>>
>> www.ratio-magazine.com
>> www.africa-assets.com
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>
>
>
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>
> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>
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