TechCentral reported last week that South Africa's spam call epidemic is getting worse, despite multipronged efforts to fight the scourge. Interventions by regulators, third-party application developers and even device manufacturers continue to be circumvented by unscrupulous telemarketers and scammers, leaving users wondering what can be done.
Its at the network layer that operators have room to implement technical solutions to block spam calls before they are routed to customers. However, there are number of technical challenges that make such interventions impractical, with adherence to data privacy laws also a big concern for operators.
"It is important to note that we as Vodacom do not monitor communication content over our network, and therefore we cannot distinguish if such content is spam or not as this would amount to unlawful interception of communication in terms of Rica the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act," a Vodacom spokesman told TechCentral via e-mail. "We are however willing to work with the authorities in support of lawful measures to be taken to manage spam."
The fact that mobile operators do not monitor their customers' calls does not mean they do not take any action to fight the problem. An MTN South Africa spokesman told TechCentral that measures are taken at the interconnect and wholesale level, which include network security and spam filtering tools "that use international best-practice learnings, processes and live global information".
"The main challenge lies in monitoring and enforcement. Strengthening regulatory capacity to investigate complaints and take action against repeat offenders is crucial," said MTN.