By Jeff Ooi Sep 18, 2007 12:00AM UTC
UPDATED VERSION. Yesterday, Maxis Communications Bhd (Maxis) made a PR announcement, picked up by Bernama Business, that it has rolled out its anti-spam platform — installed and operational in July 2007 — ahead of the September 30 deadline by the Energy, Water and Communications Ministry..
Maxis chief operating officer Jon Eddy Abdullah was quoted as saying that the platform was designed to block unsolicited short messaging services (SMS) — such as spam and spoof SMS — from reaching the operator’s postpaid and prepaid customer base.
“Since July 2007, the anti-spam platform, which works as a firewall, has eliminated over 1.2 million intrusive SMS from reaching customers,” Maxis said, effectively re-affirming that unsolicited SMS had been a piece of truth.
Is this the silver-bullet preventive solution from the celcos to battle the rampant spoofing of MOs (as if they are genuine from the unassuming mobile users) via international SMS gateway employed by its external content providers out to fleece the consumers?
A high-ranking Little Bird from MCMC, when alerted to the Bernama story, advised that ( A ) the preventive system and ( 2 ) the anti-spoof/spam mechanism are two different things altogether. Quote:
One is a platform to ensure automatic compliance to the Guideline for Mobile Content Service.
This is the one called Maxis Preventive Gateway (MPG). This is to be completed by end September 2007.Anti spam/spoof is implemented at the international gateway, specifically to address spam and spoof.
It is to be highlighted that, last week, Maxis circulated a premeditated letter to its ECPs, asking them to “voluntarily” acknowledge that they (the ECPs) have “successfully migrated to Maxis Preventive Gateway (MPG)”. Fearing for being blacklisted for non-compliance, some ECPs voiced that they would sign the acknowledgment letter under duress. (Read this September 14 blog entry for context.)
So, which is which that Maxis and MCMC are talking about now?
Yesterday, Screenshots contacted several content providers asking them to read the Maxis PR on Bernama, and to give a YES or NO answer, as to whether Maxis has found the silver bullet to kill SMS Scams rampaging its network — and continue to fleece mobile users — once and for all.
All of them are skeptical. One said: “Either MCMC is confused, or Maxis is confusing it.”
We will come back to this angle, later in this blog entry.
Matrix CEO responds; Case escalated to MCMC
Meanwhile, Ati El Bakush, CEO of Matrix Internet & Wireless Sdn Bhd, has responded to the latest case of SMS Scam by contacting this blogger via email.
It’s pertaining to a Maxis017 supplementary line, used by a Form 1 student, bombarded with horoscope alert subscription via shortcode 32321 throughout August-September — that is AFTER Maxis claimed that its preventive platform has been installed and operational since July.
Read more here - http://asiancorrespondent.com/5718/sms-scam-22-is-mcmc-confused-or-is-maxis-confusing/
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