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by Derek Chezzi
Maclena's
Oct 25, 2004
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IF YOU UNDERSTAND THAT, chances are you're one of the quarter of Canadian
cellphone owners who use the text feature to send and receive messages.
(For the rest, it means: "Free for dinner tonight?" "No
can do. I have to work. Call me later.") But even those who don't
"text" regularly will understand this: GAP SALE XL BLU SWTR
50% OFF.
In a gadget-obsessed culture, where powerful communication devices now
travel with us everywhere, it was only a matter of time before unsolicited
ads jumped from the desktop to the cellphone. Almost 60 million text
messages now traverse Canadian cellular networks each month, and a small
but growing number of those are spam. Adding injury to insult, many
cell users have to pay to receive them.
If so far you've eluded the text ping of a marketer, you probably won't
for long. According to one research study, 20 per cent of American cell
users have received commercial messages on their phones, either sent
by their service provider on others' behalf or by spammers who've hijacked
the wireless network. That figure, however, pales in comparison with
Europe and Asia, where cellphone spam has become a torrent clogging
the systems. Japan's largest wireless provider NTT DoCoMo, for one,
stops an average of 960 million junk messages a day, a volume that represents
80 per cent of its traffic.
Why has North America avoided this onslaught so far? Largely, it's because
we're relative laggards in cellphone adoption. As of this summer, there
were 14 million wireless subscribers in Canada, which translates to
a 46-per-cent penetration rate. That's peanuts compared with overseas
markets; in Sweden, for instance, there are more cellphones than people.
As well, the high cost of cellular time in Asia and Europe makes it
cheaper to send a text note than to talk. As a result, texting has become
a cultural phenomenon there -- and, naturally, a marketing phenomenon
as well.
Canadian wireless carriers -- many of whom also provide Internet service
-- insist cellphone spam is unlikely to become as big a problem as email
spam because they have greater control over what travels on their private
cellular networks than ISPs have over the Internet. Besides, they've
learned from their battle against spam, and now use similar methods
to identify suspect text messages (such as large volumes sent from a
single source) and filter them out. "The key is to stay one step
ahead of the spamming community," says Marc Choma, spokesman for
the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association. "Fortunately,
we're behind Europe and Asia [in rolling out wireless technology], so
we're able to see the steps those regions have taken and the problems
they've faced."
Carriers also stress that they don't sell their subscriber lists to
marketers, unlike some wireless companies overseas -- a sure-fire way
to fill cell inboxes with spam. David Neale, vice-president of new product
development at Rogers Wireless (whose parent company owns Maclean's),
says Rogers does distribute advertising and sponsored messages, such
as entertainment news alerts, on behalf of other companies (as do its
rivals). "We always leave an option for customers to opt out of
the marketing list," says Neale.
So far, the Canadian industry has resisted legislation such as that
recently enacted by the Federal Communications Commission in the U.S.
Spurred by the growing outcry against cellphone spam, the FCC has mandated
an opt-in rule for commercial messages, and plans to list email domains
used by wireless companies that will be off-limits to marketers. Verizon
Wireless is even going after alleged spammers in court.
Anti-spam advocates would like to see similarly aggressive tactics here.
"Companies worry legislation would be the thin end of a wedge into
government control," says Neil Schwartzman, chair of Canadians
Against Unsolicited Commercial Email. "It's a knee-jerk reaction.
And if you look at email, self-regulation has clearly been a failure."
Some observers argue that it's in wireless providers' interest to get
tough on spammers. If cellphones become inundated with junk mail, people
may turn away from the technology, dashing the young industry's hopes
for growth. "We have little tolerance for spam," says technology
consultant and author Mark Federman. "The presence disturbs us
as an invasion of privacy. Delivering ads may sound attractive, but
the backlash will be greater than any benefit."
Still, carriers are facing increasing cost pressures. Canadians already
enjoy some of the lowest wireless rates in the world, and the market
is about to get more competitive. Virgin Mobile, a youth-oriented British
provider, plans to start offering cheap, pay-as-you-go service in Canada
this fall. If its arrival forces prices down further, the temptation
to tap revenues from direct marketers will become harder for companies
to resist.
So the odds are you'll see more, not less, spam on your cellphone. And
the worst -- or best, depending on your point of view -- is yet to come.
Trend watchers paint a future, already emerging in countries like Finland
and Japan, where marketers can locate you anywhere in the world and
send commercials to your phone promoting sales at retailers in the mall
you've just entered. Able to cut through the noise of a media landscape
cluttered with magazines, TV channels and websites all begging for attention,
the cellphone could become a tiny tailored billboard that travels with
you. "It took 10 years for the Web to go from being pages with
text and occasional photos to the slick, flashy sites we see today,"
says Kaan Yigit, president of digital culture research firm Solution
Research Group in Toronto. "We're seeing a similar evolution in
the wireless space."
DR CRSHR SALE OCT 29 @ SEARS -- coming soon to a cellphone near you.
derek.chezzi@macleans.rogers.com
ON THE WEB For more about spam and the impact of technology on our lives,
as well as gadget reviews, visit us online at www.macleans.ca/gadgets
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