Telegram has begun testing the P2PL program (peer-to-peer login program), in which users are offered a Telegram Premium subscription in exchange for a package of SMS messages, writes Kommersant. As Telegram Info reported, users in Indonesia were the first to receive the offer. Russian users are also offered the right to send 150 SMS messages per month from their phones in exchange for a Telegram Premium subscription. Telecom operators are against it.
According to the terms of the deal, the user undertakes to bear any costs, including fees for telecom operator tariffs, additional fees, as well as fees for international SMS, which may also be sent. In return, he receives a free Premium subscription, but only if he reaches a “quota” of 150 SMS sent.
The head of Content Review, Sergei Polovnikov, said that the limits on the number of SMS messages for Telegram are different in different countries – 100-150 pieces. “If you delve into the rules of the new program, we are talking about exactly 100 SMS delivered, and how many will be sent is unknown. In addition, SMS can be sent to international numbers, this is a completely different tariff,” he says.
Tele2 called the scheme proposed by Telegram illegitimate, since the client must use communication services personally, without the right to transfer access to third parties, and therefore such SMS can be blocked.
According to Kommersant's source in the industry, SMS packages cannot be an item for resale. Automated SMS distribution should be carried out on the basis of an agreement between the operator and the customer, which in this case is Telegram. Paying for mailings at the expense of subscribers will most likely be a violation of the contract with the operator, the source believes.
In turn, Kommersant’s source in the cybersecurity market warned that sending SMS not on behalf of Telegram, but from an unfamiliar number could provoke a surge in fraud and spam. Attackers can take advantage of this to send fake links purporting to be from Telegram to free Premium offers that lead to fraudulent sites.
In addition, operators may consider such a subscriber to be a spammer due to the automatic sending of SMS and block him, Polovnikov believes.
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