Russia’s MegaFon explains SMS mailout by technical glitch

MOSCOW, Jun 8 (PRIME) -- Russian mobile operator MegaFon has attributed two SMS advertisements, sent out without a subscriber’s consent and resulted in a 1 million ruble antitrust fine, to a technical glitch, Yulia Dorokhina, head of MegaFon’s press office, said late Tuesday.

“We will fix technical malfunctions and revise our relations with the dealer to avoid similar situations in the future,” Dorokhina said, adding that the imposed fine is seen by the operator as disproportionate to the committed infringement.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service earlier on Tuesday ordered MegaFon to pay two fines by 500,000 rubles each for sending two SMSs with advertisements of mobile games and a money reward to a subscriber.

The subscriber had asked the operator to revoke consent to receive SMS mailouts, which was given when signing a contract, but the request was not validated.

The law obliges operators to receive consent of subscribers prior to sending them any advertising materials.

MegaFon serviced 73.9 million subscribers in the country as of the end of March.

(65.2089 rubles – U.S. $1)

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