OXFORD, United Kingdom-The booming market in premium rate short message service (SMS) looks likely to be hit by new regulations if proposals from the Icstis regulatory trade body are accepted. The existing guidelines, which were launched only in May 2002, appear to have failed to protect users of premium rate SMS services following information released by an Icstis executive that complaints rose fivefold during the past 12 months.
The areas that Icstis proposes to focus on are the need to increase transparency around instructional messages, which would explain exact details of services, and information on how to unsubscribe from them. The organization is considering an upgrade to the existing guidelines that would require premium rate SMS service providers to send a clear instruction message that explains how potential users could unsubscribe prior to using the service, with clear instructions on how to keep the message.
