TRAI will Apply Blockchain Technology to Control Messages & Spam Calls

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) earlier this week put forth a draft Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulation 2018 to restrain telemarketing spam through SMS messages and phone calls using blockchain technology. The draft regulation will always be open for comment up to 11 June 2018.

The guidelines look to be the first thing in the whole globe to apply blockchain at such a scope within the telecom industry with the purpose of securing the contact information of hundreds of millions of users cryptographically to guarantee privacy, according to the TRAI draft report. Notification and information will only be offered under specific conditions to telemarketers that are fully registered.

“Blockchain will ensure two things – non-repudiation and confidentiality. Only those authorized to access details will be able to access subscriber details and only when they need to deliver service… TRAI will become first organization to implement this kind of regulation,” said RS Sharma, Chairman TRAI.

About 30 billion commercial messages are sent out monthly with most of them not requested for by the users hence making telemarketing a sparkling business opportunity. Up to today, it is still very hard to track spammers since they have been using a 10-digit mobile number and not the normal numbering series assigned for telemarketing.

All communication between telecom companies and subscribers will be properly recorded and listed on the ledger to attain user’s consent for information. Blockchain technology has proved for a very long time to be more efficient since no one can gainsay their actions or tamper with the stored records that have been recorded on the distributed ledger.

“It is learnt that many telemarketing firms get registered with telecom companies to obtain subscriber details. The new system will give access to only authorized agencies at the time they need to deliver service and details of only those subscribers who have agreed to receive the message. The digital record will show entire communication between entries involved,” said SK Gupta, Secretary TRAI.

Subscribers are asked to give permission before receiving any kind of communication and they are also given an alternative to canceling his/her permission in case of any misuse or repeated unrequested calls.

The framework put forth will first be presented in a regulatory sandbox to everybody in order to examine the efficiency before it is deployed, as it is a technology-driven solution and allows recurring development.