WASPA accepting public comment on Code of Conduct

Let me get this straight, in order for a rogue WASP to be fined or censured, it has to first be a member of WASPA? Do you really think a dodgy WASP is going to be a member of WASPA in the first place? Another toothless organisation.

What's the point of having an organisation that overseas regulation of an industry if they can only take action against their own members?
 
deweyzeph said:
Let me get this straight, in order for a rogue WASP to be fined or censured, it has to first be a member of WASPA?
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Yes, this seems pointless.

if their code of conduct get accepted into the consumer protection act, will it then apply to all mobile VAS service providers? not just members?
 
A WASP can only get access to the networks shortcodes and billing platform if its a member of WASPA. If its not a member then all it can do is send out non-rated MTs (SMS).

The rogue WASPS usually operate via international carriers to send bulk sms to consumers.

But should a rogue WASP get access to the networks shortcodes/billing-platform via a 3rd party, the 3rd party is held liable unless their client is a WASPA member.

(Should be my sig by now, but I work for a WASP but my presence here on mybb is purely personally and to give unbiased opinions and help).
 
Having spend over three years working for a WASP myself (I'm no longer there, and I won't say which one), I can confirm that cbrunsdonza speaks the truth. Vodacom/MTN/Cell C will deny you access to their network if you're not a member of WASPA, so to speak of them as "toothless" is as far from the truth as you can possibly get. Trust me, those guys bite, and when they do, they bite pretty hard. :)
 
I submitted quite a few complaints to WASPA over time. They could not enforce a single one, because it wasn't committed by a member, and none of the spam SMS originating numbers was identified by their site. So I gave up on using them for anything.

Perhaps that can be addressed by WASPA? How do we actually FIND a spammer? The cell networks are also loath to act against one.
 
Valerion said:
I submitted quite a few complaints to WASPA over time. They could not enforce a single one, because it wasn't committed by a member, and none of the spam SMS originating numbers was identified by their site. So I gave up on using them for anything.

Perhaps that can be addressed by WASPA? How do we actually FIND a spammer? The cell networks are also loath to act against one.
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Problem is that www.smscode.co.za is not operated by WASPA but by another WASP and its a ball-ache to get it updated. I use the site on a daily basis and often get wrong info (wrong WASP, wrong band value or no data at all).

The offending spammers you are referring to often make use of international gateways (and Vodacom is clamping down) or SIM farms (where they take out a whole lot of SMS bundle packages and spam the crap out of you). Since WASPA is not affiliated with the networks, they cannot instruct the network to stop the spammer. This is the biggest issue here.

The only solution is to contact the network and supply as much info as possible. Personally I would contact the relevant rep on this forum and allow them the opportunity to follow up.
 
cbrunsdonza said:
Problem is that www.smscode.co.za is not operated by WASPA but by another WASP and its a ball-ache to get it updated. I use the site on a daily basis and often get wrong info (wrong WASP, wrong band value or no data at all).

The offending spammers you are referring to often make use of international gateways (and Vodacom is clamping down) or SIM farms (where they take out a whole lot of SMS bundle packages and spam the crap out of you). Since WASPA is not affiliated with the networks, they cannot instruct the network to stop the spammer. This is the biggest issue here.

The only solution is to contact the network and supply as much info as possible. Personally I would contact the relevant rep on this forum and allow them the opportunity to follow up.
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Yeah. About that ... I gave up on it. Both Vodacom and MTN completely ignored all my complaints I directed their way. I tried for over a year to get spammers shut down on both networks, and just ran into issues. I didn't try the reps here, though.

Of course, if they actually give us an easy method to report spam that doesn't deal with the help desk, it would help a great deal.
 
Valerion said:
Yeah. About that ... I gave up on it. Both Vodacom and MTN completely ignored all my complaints I directed their way. I tried for over a year to get spammers shut down on both networks, and just ran into issues. I didn't try the reps here, though.

Of course, if they actually give us an easy method to report spam that doesn't deal with the help desk, it would help a great deal.
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True. At Vodacom it takes a couple of escalations to get to the senior callcenter that actually actions these things. But this callcenter is only 30 persons (about 12 per shift) and the other tiers is over 50'000 agents. Egos and performance appraisals cause many of the lower tier not to escalate your complaints. Reason for suggesting the local reps.
 
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