The second-largest cellular operator DTAC blocked messages sent from the True Move network from 10pm on Wednesday until 4pm yesterday in retaliation for True Move sending a great number of messages to DTAC customers on Wednesday.

The messages from True Move invited DTAC subscribers to pick up a True Move SIM card for Bt1 so they could vote in the ongoing popular reality show "Academy Fantasia 3", which is broadcast by the pay-TV operator UBC True.

As a result, any messages from True Move subscribers to the DTAC network during the cut-off period were also blocked, but not vice versa. However, they could still make voice calls to each other during that period.

True Move has more than five million subscribers and DTAC has 10 million.

DTAC lifted the block at 4pm yesterday after True Move executives announced that True Move had stopped sending the contentious messages to DTAC customers.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is expected to raise the issue during its meeting with all telecom operators next Monday to discover if any of them has any problem under the NTC regime. The Information and Communications Technology Ministry said that it would ask the Consumer Protection Board to look into the matter.

Besides DTAC, the third-largest cellular operator True Move also sent similar messages to Advanced Info Service (AIS) customers and its own network. By Wednesday night the total number of messages sent to AIS, DTAC, and True Move customers had reached 300,000, of which most were sent to True Move's users.

DTAC viewed True Move's sending the messages as an "unacceptable" attempt to poach its customers. "Though it also sent messages to AIS, it affected us the most," said Thana Thienachariya, DTAC's chief commercial officer. He admitted that blocking the short messages was "not good manners" but DTAC had to teach True Move a lesson. He said DTAC sometimes sends similar messages to other networks, but not on such a massive scale.

Supachai Chearavanont, True Move's chief executive, said that he did not understand why DTAC had to resort to blocking to retaliate against True Move, instead of using a fair marketing strategy.

 "What we've done is a marketing strategy, so DTAC should counteract on a marketing-strategy basis," he said adding that True Move would not retaliate against DTAC by blocking its messages.

 DTAC and True Move have been fierce rivals and their bitter feelings reached a peak when UBC True announced on June 26 that only True Move mobile-phone subscribers could vote for contestants in "Academy Fantasia 3", which started on July 3.

"Academy Fantasia", which was launched two years ago by the pay-TV operator, is the country's most popular reality show, where viewers can vote for and rate their favourite contestants via SMS. All contestants have to compete in a singing contest.

The first season of the show recorded four million votes and the second had 11 million. Each SMS vote for these shows costs Bt6, of which half is shared between UBC True and the participating cellular operators. However, the cost per vote for this third instalment will be Bt3.

True explained that it wanted to limit voting rights to only True Move users "because it wants to emphasise the group's synergy".

DTAC said that the exclusivity of True Move users would destroy the mobile-content industry, as other cellular operators may adopt the same practice of limiting the right to vote in shows they have sponsored to only their mobile-phone users.

The competition among cellular operators has often affected their customers. Rivalry to offer extremely cheap calls early this year prompted call jams at all networks, especially during the evening peak hours. This problem still occurs but not as frequently

As a result, the NTC ordered all operators to expand their network interconnection links to ease the traffic.

Usanee Mongkolporn

The Nation