The government’s decision to ban bulk SMS and MMS services for 15 days, to
check spread of rumours that has led to exodus of north-eastern people from
certain parts of the country, has made telecom operators and bulk messaging
service providers jittery, as they fear this may cause revenue losses to the
tune of 30 per cent.
The department of telecommunications (DoT) has already sent out directives to
telecom operators asking them to ban such services with immediate effect.
The panic mainly spread after SMSes and chain mail threatening people from North
East started doing rounds.
Police believe a doctored MMS on the recent ethnic clashes in Assam, in which
close to 80 people were killed, provoked attacks.
People from northeast continued to flee the state in hordes for the third
consecutive day on Friday.
The exodus so far confined to Bangalore has now spread to some other parts with
people of the northeastern region living in Mysore, Mangalore and Kodagu
arriving here in trains and buses and rushing to railway counters to buy
tickets.
More than 15,000 people have fled from Bangalore in the past two days following
the rumours, official sources said on Friday.
Rajan Mathews, director general of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI)
said, “All the members will definitely abide by the rules, as national security
and human lives are at stake. But a 15-day ban on such services would definitely
reduce the revenue stream of operators.”
According to Mathews, operators on an average get 15-18 per cent revenue from
SMS services. A ban of 15 days means they will lose around seven-eight per cent
of revenue this month from this service alone.
According to a bulk mobile messaging service provider firm, revenue losses for
such companies could be as high as 30-40 per cent.
According to Subho Ray, president of Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI),
“The government should come out with a law that has clarity. Issuing a ban like
this is archaic and not uniform, considering the fact that SMS is a vital mode
of communications in today’s world. We have appealed to DoT to give more clarity
to the notifications, and allow emergency and vital texts messaging services
such as those being sent by the railways, airlines and banks, etc.”
No one will be able to send more than five SMSes in one go and more than 20 KB
of data through mobile phones during the ban period.
A DoT official, however, said the operators would be asked to allow emergency
services from banks, railways and airlines. But, there is no clarity on whether
other emergency services could be allowed. “For example, schools use bulk SMS
services to connect with students and parents,” said Vishwadeep Bajaj, founder,
ValueFirst.
“We are taken aback by the government’s directive. SMS is a powerful medium.
Various institutes use this service for providing important, critical as well as
emergency services. Moreover, instead of banning this medium, the government
should use it to spread correct information,” he added.
The ban came into force after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said the spread
of rumours by miscreants had created panic among people belonging to the
northeast leading to their exodus from places like Bangalore and Pune among
other areas.
Earlier, some political parties urged the government to shut down social
networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, etc, for a few days to prevent the
spread of rumours.
This is not the first time the government has banned such services. During
Independence Day, bulk SMS service was not allowed in Jammu and Kashmir. Also,
after the Ayodha verdict, bulk the service was banned for a certain time period.
The license agreement of telecom operators have conditions under which in the
interest of national security the government can ask operators to ban certain
services.
