NDNC vs Opt-in: A Perspective

The Right of Choice

The Right to Information

NetCore Solutions , Nov 2008

Why does a person register under NDNC?

• Receives un-solicited messages

• Receives communication from un-desired and un-known sender

• Receives communication at un-desired time

• Receives un-desired content/information

• He lacks control on receiving such messages (cannot stop specific messages)

2

What should be the consequence of registering to NDNC?

• Does it mean that the person cannot opt-in to any service at all?

• Must this be an ALL or NOTHING deal for him?

• Should he not be allowed to make selective choices, instead of being forced to be completely shut off?

• After all, he has chosen to cut-off unsolicited messages. Does he give up his right to exercise his choice as well?

• Does this not mean that he is being penalised for having registered himself in NDNC?

3

Opt-in

• The person registered under NDNC still has the right to receive information

• He still has the right to make a choice

• He still has the right to be in control of the content he wants to receive

• The only solution to all of this is he can voluntarily opt-in to any service he desires

• This opt-in gives him the power to make a choice of – Content

– Sender

– Time

– When to stop4

What do subscribers of MyToday, an Opt-in Service say – Nielsen Study

• MyToday Dailies service is appreciated for three key reasons– Choice: of channels available to them & time of reading

– Convenience: as the messages come to them on their own

– Uniqueness: is the only service that offers topics that are of interest to them

• Users are discerning and show intention to opt out of the channel if the content is not good enough

• 76% of the people surveyed said that they read all messages that they receive

• 98% said that they will continue with the service and recommend it to others

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MyToday SMS Dailies:Opt-in Process, Success, Recognition

• MyToday Dailies is an explicit permission based service– User sends START SERVICENAME to longcode

(9845298452)

– Opt-in to longcode vastly more popular due to lower costs

• Service Popularity– 3.7 million subscribers (all word-of-mouth)

– 11 million subscriptions

– 13 million SMS sent daily

• Great Recognition Internally– True Mobile Start-up Award at GSMA Barcelona 2008

– Rajesh Jain presented MyToday ‘s SMS Subscription Innovations at Web 2.0 Summit (Nov 2008)

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MyToday: What could be the reasons for Complaints?

• Despite all the care, users may still complain for the following reasons

– Churn in mobile numbers - previously subscribed mobile number gets assigned to a new user Solution: Advertise STOP methodology regularly

– User forgets that he/she had opted in

Solution: Netcore can provide proof

– Fraudulent complaints

– Rare technical errors

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Recommendations for Mobile Operators / TRAI

• Explicit SMS Opt-in MUST override NDNC– SMS can be sent to shortcode or longcode

• Create a process to deal with NDNC-registered user complaints– Server Logs of cos. like MyToday must be recognised [to

show user subscription request]– Backup option: Check shortcode / longcode logs

maintained by Operator / Aggregator

• Voluntary violations by an SMS service provider need to be treated differently from possible errors from an opt-in service provider (i.e., 3 involuntary errors cannot warrant a shutdown) 8