How this issue is settled is of great importance, and it impacts the future of push SMS services from SMS GupShup and Google, apart from every single service provider who sends a push SMS to consumers.
Airtel has blocked MyToday SMS longcode, writes Netcore MD Rajesh Jain, citing complaints made by MyToday subscribers to Airtel about unsolicited SMS. (Update: this means that new users cannot sign up, and existing users cannot unsubscribe.) At the core of the debate, writes Jain, is whether an SMS Opt-in by a subscriber overrides a National Do Not Call (NDNC) registration or not.
The fact remains that Airtel cannot arbitrarily cite the NDNC and block access, unless subscribers have complained; there are obviously some subscribers who want to unsubscribe from the service, but because they don’t know how to, they’ve complained.
At the same time, I do believe that Jain is in the right – those consumers have chosen to opt-in. However, the onus is on MyToday to prove that they’ve opted in, and maintain records to that effect.
Airtel has blocked the long codes 9845398453 and 9845298452, and is being rather unrealistic by asking MyToday to get its subscribers to give in writing that they’ve subscribed, and quite ridiculous by asking MyToday to scrub its database clean of 10% of its subscribers who have signed up for the NDNC.
This includes me. I’m an Airtel subscriber and have signed up for MyToday services. I have solicited MyToday’s SMS services, so I want to receive those SMS’. At the same time, I don’t want to receive SMS’ from “Mr. Deal” and the “Hard Rock Café”. I did not sign up for those.
This is not MyToday’s first run-in with a mobile operator, or indeed Airtel. At the TRAI Open House discussion on MVAS (a must read if you’re in the Mobile business), Jain had called for transparency and the definition of a clear mechanism for settlement of disputes.
“Rajesh Jain, MD of Netcore (MyToday) called for clear guidelines and a mechanism for settling disputes, saying that there is only a perception of a fairplay environment (which operators kept hinting at). Netcore’s MyToday services were curtailed for no apparent reason, and there was no way of dispute resolution then.”
Sadly, the TRAI has passed the buck, in this case, to Airtel.
(Updates: Confirmed from Netcore – updates are available, but users on Airtel cannot subscribe or unsubscribe, and edited post accordingly)
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12 Comments until now.
Nikhil
I guess you have been watching too much of IndiaTV and Aaj Tak :)
Rajesh has clearly mentioned in his blog (and so have you in your story) that Airtel has blocked MyToday longcode. It has not yet blocked Mytoday service to existing users.
Your headline is a little sensational in that sense..
Reg the dispute between MyToday and Airtel, it is very clear, Airtel is trying to show MyToday who is the boss.
I guess Airtel is feeling threatened in some way by runaway success of models like Mytoday, though those are yet to prove their business viability.
And if this is the treatment meted out to a player like MyToday with 3+M users, with Rajesh Jain kind of background and PR support, then you can imagine how telcos must be arm twising smaler VAS players!
Yogi: I haven’t been receiving MyToday SMS’ on Airtel, despite subscribing. Have written to Rajesh for a confirmation of whether the service is operational, and will update
Title this post as “Empire Strikes Back” .
I feel sorry for MyToday . I am sure Airtel will do everything in their power to hinder the growth of services like MyToday . other reason in addition to threat (or possibility of threat ??) which make them do this kind of stuff is the management team . i mean come think about it . Actually its just a bunch of overworked clueless executive who have no insight and too old to understand the potential of mobile and who have to show their bosses that they are doing “something” whatever that means.
there was a time when AT&T was employing more Lawyers than Engineers . now you know how they get in to that state .
what can Rajesh Do ?? Nothing more than to wait . with election round the corner it will be foolishness to expect a policy change or govt being strict to telco( campaign contribution ).
Telcos never change unless their is a threat . sadly MyToday and rest of the VAS Industry is not a threat to Telco . Last time the threat was reliance’s launch on India Mobile and we saw call rate sliding like hell . now with the operators like DoCoMo ,Telenor,Swan etc coming to India i guess this will be a threat to airtel’s dominance in Urban India so they will relent . but not before that .
its sad to see that biggest startup success story in India (AIRTEL) is so very unfriendly to startup . I hope Sunil Mittal read this space and correct the mistakes of his minions .
I guess Airtel is just arm twisting.
By their logic, if I am in the NDNC, then I should not be able to even get an sms from my Bank whom I’ve told to send me an sms alert whenever there is any transaction.
Weird logic I must say.
I am an AIrtel customer and I got all the alerts today. Anyways, I do not know how long My Today’s free service model will survive.
I get it free, i like it..
I used short codes on airtel and they work.
Is it such a big issue ? The long codea are available on every sim that you buy.
I don’t think this is half hearted attempt to kill the service.
Sounds funny post and issue. All is working and at operator end there could be some other issue.
This is quite disturbing to hear as following rajesh’s blog i know this is not th first time airtel has done something like this. i wonder what is the use of having a regulatory authority when there are no clear guidelines of conduct for the current big daddy’s (read: operators)
I hope TRAI is going to look into this (as soon as they start finding time out of their list of disagreements with DoT )
and hey i just realized that i am also a MyToday subscriber and a vodafone customer but i recd. the last news update on 14th november, 2008. so are they hindering with the push also??
any other user not getting updates lemme know !!
If services of any company need to be checked its Indiatimes. Every morning I get an SMS for some Indiatimes Dhanlaxmi contest (I by mistake had clicked on it once on Vodafone Live or Indiatimes wap)
This SMS has been coming to me for months now, and I know a few others who get it too..Time to check your systems 58888
@ VAS GUY
“I don’t think this is half hearted attempt to kill the service.”
Now this time it seems that you have picked up a job with Airtel . Stop moving the bone and say what is right .For once god sake .
well…here’s what I heard from “sources”…unconfirmed – company X used to send SMS via operator Y. Operator upped rates so company X switched to another operator, say Z. That’s where the trouble began for company X.
Look I told you. There must have been something else. I do not think MT is still touching that holy grail of being un-stoppable.
@ LTLRC , I am still waiting for a call.. No operator business.
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