The article is a bit confusing - are they blocking spam messages or are they blocking the routes that people use? There may be overlap, but the two are separate. If a business 'has no idea they are using a grey route' that is of little interest to me as a consumer (it's more like an MTN internal issue). If I receive any unsolicited sms from any source whatsoever, that is certainly of interest.
Good point. They are blocking all messages originating from international SMSCs which are likely to come from an application and not a handset, for instance messages that use an originating number that does not match the originating network. So this would definitely include messages that are not unsolicited. Consumers will be impacted, as some messages which they have signed up for would be blocked.
Unsolicited messages via the direct WASP route also happens, but this is regarded as less of a problem by the operators, as they get paid for these messages. These messages are not filtered for spam, and for good reason. Whether a message is spam or not depends on whether the recipient gave consent or not, and it is impossible for the network operator to determine this. Only the recipient will know if it is spam or not, and would have to report this to WASPA. With the direct WASP route, WASPA can trace all messages and hold a WASP accountable.
Another "grey" route is via another local network operator, entering the destination network via a point of interconnect. These messages are not blocked, but are discouraged by the destination network as they don't earn any revenue for these messages. The reason for this is because in South Africa there is no SMS interworking fee set by ICASA. The sender keeps all the revenue.
While there were only a couple of network operators, they managed to reach a "gentleman's agreement" to not send cross network A2P messaging. This potentially anti-competitive agreement was justified based on the "spam risk".
However, now that ICASA has licensed many entities as "network operators", it is a free for all. The incumbent operators created their own problem by shipping 3G modem cards with cross network A2P sms messaging software. The new entrants are now rapidly cannibilising the WASP business of the incumbent operators.
There is a potential spam problem with messages originating from local "grey" routes. This is because the new operators do not yet require their WASPs or clients to be members of WASPA. Some have joined WASPA voluntarily and supplied all their originating numbers to WASPA. For them spam is addressed no differently to spam originating via direct routes.
