A nail in the coffin of rogue WASPs

Summary: Vodacom is set to launch a technical double opt-in solution before the end of the year which will only allow billing after a user completes a two step subscription process

Vodacom said that they will implement a technical solution before the end of the year (2011) which will require a double opt-in before their SIM can be billed by a WASP.

The unauthorized billing of SIMs by wireless access service providers (WASPs) has been a problem in the past.

To get money back after unauthorized billing the consumer or business had to lodge a complaint with their cellular provider and WASPA, and hope that the guilty WASP came to the party and refunded them.

The problem of unauthorized billing typically landed up on the doorstep of mobile operators rather than the WASP or the industry body WASPA (who polices the industry), and Vodacom set out to put a stop to this evil.

Vodacom has already launched double opt-in business rules for WASPS more than a year ago with the express purpose of avoiding confusion when signing up for services. These rules are however manually policed at this stage.

A technical solution – which is designed to make it impossible for a service to be billed without the double opt-in process being followed – will be launched by Vodacom before the end of the year.

This means that after this technical solution is implemented, Vodacom subscribers can rest assured that they are safe against rogue WASPs who are billing SIMs without authorization.

WASPA said that while their members may lose lots of revenue with double opt-in solutions and rules, they fully support the initiative to ensure a better environment for consumers.