[UPDATED - Have your say] If sending a text were free would there be widespread text spam? Vodafone thinks so.In the latest argument to counter the regulation of mobile termination rates, Vodafone claims that text spam would become an unintended consequence of free text.The idea was first floated in the June issue of Telecommunications Review by Vodafone regulatory manager Richard York, when he argued against the scrapping of the fees telcos charge to accept each other’s text messages on their network (the official term is ‘bill and keep’ or zero mobile termination rates).“York says that if there were no MTRs on SMS service, and it cost nothing to send a text, it could increase the risk of text spam. He points out that on the internet sending email is free and over 90% of email traffic is spam,” reads the TR report.The argument has been revisited on the TUANZ blog , this time by Vodafone external relations manager Paul Brislen, in a comment to the post: 'Mobile Termination Rates to Drop by up to 87.4%!':“TXTs tend to balance – I send you one, you reply – so an imbalance implies a machine is sending them: spam, in other words,” Brislen writes. “To date, TXT spam has been a relatively small problem but remove the ability to charge for TXTs and you open the floodgates wide for spam to your mobile. Not something we’d like to see.”His argument is hotly contested by another contributor to the blog, 'Neil' who claims that text spam is an example of ‘spin’, and spreads FUD – Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt.He writes: “You must be able to write your terms and conditions to take into account text Spam. I have just had a look at your website and I cannot see any reference to text spam so I am guessing that you do not really see it as an issue just now.”In the latest effort to stave off regulation on Mobile Termination Rates, Vodafone has offered to reduce MTRs for SMS to 1.2 c from April next year and voice calls to 3c a minute by 2015. Telecom has offered ‘bill and keep’ pricing for SMS, with an overage charge of 3c to 8c. It has offered to reduce voice calls to 7c a minute by 2015.UPDATED: Have your say, vote in the online TR poll on our home page - If sending a text were free, would there be widespread text spam?
