In an effort to protect one of wireless technology’s fastest-growing markets against a pesky invader, a pair of European companies are collaborating on an effort prevent spam texts from reaching mobile phones. Telenor (News - Alert), a telecommunications company based in Norway, said today that it’s ready to deploy a new anti-spam messaging service created by Anam, a short message service applications provider based in Ireland.
Telenor’s vice president of operations, Ingrid Lorange, said her company tries to focus on technologies that will give its customers a better experience. “The protection and security of our customers and networks is something we take extremely seriously, so SMS Anti-spam was particularly important for us to implement,” Lorange said. “Alongside the SMS Anti-spam product, in implementing Anam’s solution as a whole, we will have a platform for the launch of several messaging-based services that we think our customers will be excited about.” The anti-spam technology includes filters that detect scanning, spoofing and spam content and prevents that content from reaching a mobile phone, according to the companies. The initial deployment will be able to carry and check more than 3,000 messages per second, they said. As mobile devices develop new technologies and become more prevalent around the world, so anti-spam services are spreading – sometimes to the chagrin of marketing professionals who view the wireless medium as another place to reach potential customers. The Mobile Marketing Association (News - Alert), for example, five years ago took issue with a standard that direct marketers adopted to address spam. The association represents professionals from more than 40 countries, according to its Web site, including “any company focused on the potential of marketing via mobile devices.” For Gerry McKenna, Anam’s chief executive officer, improving text-messaging services is one case where customers actually get something in return for higher fees. “The development of enhanced messaging services through SMS is an important way for mobile operators to improve customer experience and increase revenues at the same time,” McKenna said. “Telenor is a major, global operator and the fact that we are working together validates our belief that SMS is still a vital revenue stream for mobile operators, so we are excited to be partnering with them to create new messaging services across the Telenor Group.”
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