The government is reportedly working on a new system that will help authorities curb bulk SMSes and MMSes at a regional level in the future. Currently the government has imposed a nationwide ban on bulk SMSes and MMSes which prohibits users from sending more than five messages in a day. The move was taken in view of widespread circulations of messages having inflammatory and provocative content that led to the exodus of the North East Indians from different states.
The government officials believe the nationwide ban is unnecessary as only certain areas of the country are affected. The Department of Telecom is currently working on a possible 'regional ban' when a few states are affected. The government had earlier banned bulk SMSes in Jammu and Kashmir, but officials conceded that it was not 'foolproof'.
“We hope telecom companies will give top priority to security concerns and build safeguards to enable us to impose a ban in restricted areas alone,” an official is quoted as saying.
The officials also acknowledged that the government had been slow in slow in tackling the panic spread via the text messages that drove hundreds of people from Karnataka. The government hopes the new and effective central communications monitoring centre will considerably decrease the time lag.
It's notable that the COAI has already warned that the 15-day ban could cause 7-10 percent loss in revenues to telecom operators this month. Moreover, the restriction has irked many users as the ban only includes prepaid customers, which constitute more than 90 percent of the total 930 million mobile subscriber base of the country.
Source: Hindustan Times
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