The nuisance of unsolicited SMS’ and voice calls

  Sometime in the second quarter of this year, the number of active voice subscription in Nigeria stood at 148 million. This was contained in the Nigerian Telecommunications Sector Summary Report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in May. The report revealed that MTN accounted for the largest subscribers of 57.04 million (or […]

Sometime in the second quarter of this year, the number of active voice subscription in Nigeria stood at 148 million. This was contained in the Nigerian Telecommunications Sector Summary Report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in May. The report revealed that MTN accounted for the largest subscribers of 57.04 million (or 38 percent); followed by Glo with 34.6 million subscribers (or 23 percent), and Airtel with 33.86 million subscribers (or 22.7 percent). Etisalat has less than 20 percent of the total number of subscribers.

At least half of the 148 million active mobile phone users in Nigeria have reasons to complain about the services they enjoy or do not enjoy from the various communication networks in the country. While poor interconnectivity between mobile phone networks, poor internet services and undue surcharges may be some of the frustrating challenges experienced by mobile phone subscribers in Nigeria; the receipt of unsolicited Short Message Service (SMS) may constitute the worst of their lamentations.

A subscriber is alerted of a new in-coming text message through a message alert tone selected from a group of ringing tones by the phone user. The message ringing tone becomes a nuisance to a subscriber if unsolicited messages or voice calls are received more frequently than anticipated. An average of 20 unsolicited text messages is received by a subscriber daily. As if these unsolicited text messages and the voice calls are evil-spirited, they come when a subscriber is busy doing something serious. The phone will not ring or receive any alert tone until when the user is in a courtroom, hospital, marketplace, or busy in a crucial meeting, or driving, praying, eating or even while sleeping.

A mobile phone user is predictably compelled to momentary abandon his activity in order to immediately get to know the information conveyed by the text message received. A subscriber is psychologically prompted to pick the phone fast if the alert was received, for instance, at end of the month or a period when a scheduled payment such as salary was being awaited. A phone user is obviously induced by some natural instincts to read the text messages at any time the phone alerts him or her since the SMS could contain important messages such as notice of meetings, wedding notifications or an obituary which a subscriber would not want to be the last to hear. This therefore makes it difficult for a phone user to ignore the message alert tone each time it is heard. However, they constitute a nuisance if they carry messages that are irritating, despising or contemptuous to the phone user.

A worker would obviously find it annoying when waken up in the middle of the night by an alert to read a message such as ‘Yello, Keep using your phone and watch out for fantastic offers from MTN. Thank you’ Samples of other unsolicited text messages include ‘The same God that empowered David to pursue, overtake and recover all will do the same to you as you engage in the 5-night prayer from tomorrow. Invite others.’ Another one is: ‘Give thanks to Allah with Zain Bhika soulful music on cloud9 this Jumu’at.’

An intimidating SMS though unsolicited could read: ‘Your top-up is worth more! If you dial 669*1#, a surprise will be released; the chance to compete for N100, 000 cash from MTN.’ Readers need to ask MTN about when it became a jackpot resource (or Kalu-kalu). How irritating, too, would it be to a subscriber whose sleep was disrupted by an in-coming voice call only to pick the call and listen to an automated voice saying, for instance, ‘Welcome to MTN. Press 1 to select Ojuelegba by Wizkid as your caller tune.’ Such uncalled-for calls come from 4-digit numbers and sometimes from numbers marked ‘unknown.’

As subscribers grapple with the current situation under which they suffer in the hands of service providers, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) recently re-affirmed its commitment to protecting consumer’s right, which it said is non-negotiable. Speaking at the recently-concluded Lagos International Trade Fair, the Executive Vice-Chairman of the Commission, Prof Umar Danbatta, encouraged consumers to utilise the platforms created by the NCC for the resolution of complaints.

The NCC boss explained that the service provider should be the first port of call by a complainant; adding that it is when the service provider fails to address the complaint(s) that such complaints could be reported to ‘622.’ Dambatta who was represented by the NCC Head of Public Relations, Mr. Reuben Mouka, implored consumers to take advantage of solutions evolved by the NCC to improve the quality of communication services. The latest, according to him, of such solutions is the Do-Not-Disturb code ‘2442’ launched by the NCC to combat unsolicited messages.

Now, the major problem is that many subscribers in their millions are not even aware of the existence of these platforms for resolving issues with service providers. Given the level of illiteracy that yet exists in Nigeria and the number of illiterate mobile phone users, the ‘622’ and the ‘2442’ codes make no meaning to this uninformed (and therefore vulnerable) category of subscribers. It would make more sense if the NCC could prohibit the sending of unsolicited text messages by all the service providers. Instead, service providers could be directed to create their individual websites where they can effectively market their products. Interested subscribers could visit the websites, search for the facilities of their interest and subscribe to relevant facilities or promos of their choice as currently done in the case of mobile phone applications. This may appear more decent and friendly to many mobile phone users in Nigeria.

Nonetheless, there is need for the NCC to do more on consumer education. May Allah (SWT) guide the leadership of the NCC to properly regulate the operations of GSM service providers in Nigeria, amin.