9.8 million spam messages
BKAV on October 31, released a report saying that there are 9.8 million spam messages sent to mobile phone subscribers in Vietnam. If noting that a message costs 300 dong, the mobile network operators would earn 3 billion dong a day, or 100 billion dong a month from the activities relating to spam messaging only.
The report has pointed out that every user receives one spam message in every three days.
Vu Ngoc Son, a senior executive of BKAV, said at some moments, its system found that two percent of users (1000) receive more than 10 spam messages a day.
Meanwhile, there are at least 30 million mobile subscribers in active operation in the market, according to the Ministry of Information and Communication’s report released in 2011.
BKAV installs spyware to keep watch over clients?
Mobile network operators have voiced their doubts on the survey by BKAV. They have also pointed out that BKAV is not on the right position to release such a report. Since BKAV is a network security solution provider, it may exaggerate the problem to frighten people and prompt them to buy anti-spam SMS product of BKAV.
Regarding the mobile phone subscribers, the mobile network operators said that the number of 30 million subscribers BKAV used to calculate the number of spam messages is not true. Viettel alone has more than 30 million subscribers. In the last two consecutive years, the number of subscribers announced by MIC is always over 100 million subscribers.
The representative of VinaPhone, one of the three biggest mobile networks in Vietnam, said he was surprised about the conclusion by BKAV.
In general, spam message senders always use cheap SMS service packages (the ones provided to students and special subjects – just tens of dong per SMS) to save money. Therefore, it is unreasonable for BKAV to fix that every spam message brings 300 dong to mobile network operators.
“We once conducted a market survey and found out that only several thousand, or 10,000 subscribers at maximum have spam messages,” he said. The figure of 50,000 users is “so sky high.”
The executive has raised an interesting question: “Did BKAV meet the 50,000 surveyed clients to interview, or install spyware which allows automatically keeping watch over clients?
Especially, he said since BKAV is a network security solution provider; people have the right to have doubts about the motive force that prompts BKAV to release such a report.
Agreeing with him, an executive of Viettel Telecom said spam message deliverers would not be foolish enough to spread spam messages, if they have to pay 300 dong for every SMS.
Currently, mobile network operators all provide the service packages which allow users to make inner-network messages at very low fees, 3000 dong for 100 SMS. Therefore, BKAV’s conclusion that mobile network operators pocket 3 billion dong a day is unconvincing.
Meanwhile, a telecom expert thinks that the figure of 9.8 million spam messages is still lower than the actual figure.
He said that every spam unit may deliver 300,000-500,000 spam messages a day, which means that 15 million spam messages can be delivered a day in total.
Source: Vietnamnet
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