{"id":97071,"date":"2014-03-14T10:05:52","date_gmt":"2014-03-14T08:05:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=97071"},"modified":"2014-03-14T10:45:41","modified_gmt":"2014-03-14T08:45:41","slug":"disappearing-airtime-unsubscribe-all-wasps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/cellular\/97071-disappearing-airtime-unsubscribe-all-wasps.html","title":{"rendered":"Disappearing airtime? Unsubscribe all WASPs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Towards the end of 2013 news emerged that Cell C<\/a> and MTN<\/a> would finally be implementing double opt-in systems<\/a> for wireless application service providers (WASP<\/a>s).<\/p>\n

Vodacom<\/a> rolled out its double opt-in system two years prior<\/a>. The double opt-in system cost it a 33% reduction in WASP revenue, according to Vodacom, but the operator said it was worth it for the dramatically reduced fraud complaints.<\/p>\n

Along with the unveiling of its new double opt-in systems, Cell C and MTN also launched ways for their users to manage their content subscriptions.<\/p>\n

Previously subscribers had no way to prevent a WASP from charging their cellular accounts, or to unsubscribe from premium content services without first contacting the WASP.<\/p>\n

Vodacom also has a method to manage WASP subscriptions in the form of an SMS command to unsubscribe from everything.<\/p>\n

The various WASP subscription management options of South Africa\u2019s mobile operators are as follows:<\/p>\n

Cell C<\/h3>\n

Using the USSD<\/abbr> string *133*1# subscribers can block all existing and future content billing.<\/p>\n

MTN<\/h3>\n

MTN also offers a USSD string (*141*5#) to manage premium content subscriptions, but unlike Cell C\u2019s it doesn\u2019t block all future subscriptions. Instead, users select which services to unsubscribe from.<\/p>\n

Telkom Mobile<\/h3>\n

When asked about its self-service options for WASP subscriptions, Telkom Mobile<\/a> said it does not offer an option for WASPs to charge for subscription services.<\/p>\n

The operator previously told MyBroadband that it already has a double opt-in system in place, but has since said that it will be making an announcement involving its recently launched Event Billing soon.<\/p>\n

Vodacom<\/h3>\n

Vodacom users can unsubcribe from all WASP services by sending \u201cSTOP ALL\u201d to 30333.<\/p>\n

Should you be subscribed to WASP services, you should receive the response \u201cYour Vodacom request to delete all WASP service has been logged\u201d. According to Vodacom, you should then receive messages of the format, \u201cYou have been unsubscribed from \u2018SERVICE\u2019 with effect from \u2018DATE\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n

If you are not currently subscribed to any services you should receive the somewhat confusing response, \u201cYour Vodacom request to delete all WASP services has been unsuccessful, Please call Vodacom Customer Care on 082111\u201d.<\/p>\n

Vodacom said that it is working on changing this message to say that you are currently not subscribed to any WASP services.<\/p>\n

More WASP, subscription billing articles<\/h3>\n

Beware WASPs tricking you out of airtime<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Cell C, MTN double opt-in on SMS services<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Secret method of stealing your airtime?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Waspa ineffective at tackling rogue Wasp: industry player<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Vodacom launches double opt-in system for WASPs<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How to unsubscribe your cellphone number from all premium content services<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":97073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[355,5062,35,42,109,689,41,22785],"class_list":["post-97071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cellular","tag-cell-c","tag-cellular-subscription-services","tag-headline","tag-mtn","tag-telkom","tag-telkom-mobile","tag-vodacom","tag-wireless-application-service-provider-wasp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97071"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97071"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97071\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97081,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97071\/revisions\/97081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}