SMS ECO blockade
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- Created: Wednesday, 29 June 2016 12:49
On June 22nd of the current year, The President of Poland signed the Anti-Terrorism Act, which enters into force in July 2016. In practice, new law will block possibility of sending Bulk SMS EKO.
An express pace of works
Haste in work on the Anti-Terrorism Act and just 7-day vacation legis were forced by coming very soon the World Youth Days that will start on the 26th of July 2016.
Registration of prepaid SIM cards
The new Act imposes on any natural person or company an obligation of registration SIM cards. Poland, as one of Europe’s last remaining countries did not imposed such obligations till now. However recent events in Paris have shown that this gives terrorists the possibility of unlimited communication.
Providers withdraw services
The Anti-Terrorism Act will hit also marketing activities and these activities connected with customer services based on prepaid SIM cards commonly called SMS ECO or SMS EKO. The lack of possibility to face the obligation of registration of SIM cards made further suppliers to withdraw the service of prepaid SIM cards Bulk SMS sending from the market or increase prices by changing the service into standard SMS called SMS Pro.
Statistical bubble will burst
It is difficult to define a number of companies that use the prepaid SIM cards Bulk SMS sending, commonly called SMS ECO. However the Main Statistical Office’s (GUS’s) data tells a lot about this: at the end of the first quarter of 2016 there were 56,567 mln of active SIM cards in operators bases, while the population of Poles at April 31st 2016 amounted 38,426 mln of people. Penetration measured by SIM cards is therefore 147,14%. In other words, there is almost 1,5 of active SIM card per single Pole. Is this possible? It is estimated that even over a dozen mln of SIM cards will be deactivated after the Act enters into force - a part of them, because they were active and maintained in order to send a Bulk SMS EKO, another part, because of slowness of the cards’ owners who do not register them.
This is not the end of the savings
It is no secret that sending Bulk SMS EKO has its functional limitations (no user id, incomplete reports of delivery status etc.), but in exchange it offers a low price. The entry of The Anti-Terrorism Act into force does not mean that this is the end of savings on this field. One can easily combine sending Bulk SMS with Bulk Emails. This will cause the entry of the amendments announced in the Act will be much less financially noticeable.