As part of a drive to curb unwanted and annoying text message ads, Iran’s Communications Regulatory Authority has blocked over 131,000 cellphone numbers since November 2017, when an automated monitoring system was launched.
The system allows people to file complaints with CRA by sending the ad sender’s phone number to 195 via text message.
The regulator receives the complaint and blocks the number after issuing warnings and when the advertising company continues to send the messages that many consider as spam.
CRA’s website reports that 131,214 SIMs used for sending ad messages have been blocked till July 9.
Experts say the cost of mass advertisement through text messages is significantly low. The authority is planning to curb the number of such adverts by cracking down on firms indulging in the method that for long has become a nuisance.
Officials at CRA have repeatedly called on the people to assist the authority in its’ endeavors to curb text ads by submitting the ad senders’ number.
Mobile operators are also prohibited from sending ad messages to subscribers. They can only send bill notifications.
Unwanted ads annoy most cellphone users. To curb the nuisance, CRA introduced the automated number ‘195’ to help subscribers get rid of the ad messages.
