Commercial Text Messages Annoy Mobile Phone Users

Home>>Life

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, July 31, 2003

Commercial Text Messages Annoy Mobile Phone Users

As mobile phone messages have become one of the most popular means of communications in present day China, short message service has on the other hand become a focus of consumer complaints.

DISCUSSION

CHINESE

SEND TO FRIEND

As mobile phone messages have become one of the most popular means of communications in present day China, short message service has on the other hand become a focus of consumer complaints.

Wang Yong, a China Unicom subscriber in Lanzhou City of northwest China's Gansu Province, was annoyed with the volume of commercial text messages forced on him almost every day.

"I receive as many as 10 commercials including senseless invitations for romantic love affairs each day," complained Wang, who believed his life was deeply affected.

Li Tianxue, a university student in Lanzhou suffered from the same feeling.

"The most annoying thing is to receive rubbish commercials at midnight when you are already asleep, and sometimes, I even think of offensive messages back," he said.

A survey conducted randomly among selected mobile phone users indicated that 80 percent disliked such messages, 10 percent were indifferent, and only eight percent believed they provided useful information.

Wang felt that commercial messages constitute harassment to a certain extent to consumers, who were imposed upon by such information and completely deprived of any response.

"If I don't like certain TV advertisement, I can simply turn them off; if I don't like newspaper commercials, I can just ignorethem. But in this case, you have to spend time for each and every commercial that is absolutely useless to you," Wang said.

However, in the eyes of the operators, it is totally within thelaw to send commercial messages to network subscribers.

Qi Wenbin, an official with the Gansu branch of China Mobile, said the messages are either sent by mobile phone agents or Internet operators. Although large in numbers and jumbled in content, they are free of charge and therefore will not inflict any economic loss to consumers.

Tian Jingfeng, an official with the Gansu branch of China Unicom, said that although many people disliked such commercial messages, others were benefiting from them, which meant the service had been acknowledged by the market.

Also, sending commercial messages did not constitute a violation of law, said Tian.

He said that no single stipulation in any law clearly forbade operators to send commercials to subscribers, and service contracts between operators and subscribers did not have any stipulations on the issue either.

But consumers like Wang and Li are backed by the consumers' association. Cheng Zhigang, an official with the Gansu provincial consumers' association, said such messages infringed upon the rights and interests of consumers since they trampled the basic business principle of "freewill" on the consumers' side.

Also, business operators are duty bound to inform consumers clearly at the very beginning whether or not such messages will besent and how such a service can be canceled in their service contracts with subscribers.

If consumers think commercial messages have become a harassmentin daily life, he suggested they consult with the operators and ask for cancellation. If the operators insist on sending such messages, they were violating the rights and interests of the consumers by forcing the issue.

Questions?Comments? Click here

8.2 Billion Short Messages Sent Last Month in China

Short Message Service Changes Youth Culture

Blue Jokes Cause Concern over Text Message Service

Taiwan Ties Mar Japan's China Interests: News Analysis ( 36 Messages)

Shortage of Electric Power, an Ordeal for China's Economy ( 4 Messages)

Using "E-mail" Concerns Chinese Purification & National Dignity? ( 22 Messages)

US, China Co-operate to Fight Taiwan Referendum Plan ( 3 Messages)

60 Chinese Senior Officials to Be Trained in Harvard University ( 3 Messages)