Daily many mobile phone users in Pakistan receive promotional messages from different sources. Their inbox is flooded by such messages and they don’t have an option to stop receiving these messages. This is in addition to the fraudulent text messages and calls that the users receive. Telecom sector is one of the most profitable sectors in Pakistan. Despite this, cellular companies and Pakistan Telecommunication authority (PTA) has not done anything substantial to solve this problem.
First cellular company in Pakistan was launched in 1995. The real boom in Cellular sector came in 2004-05. The trend of having a mobile phone became must for every citizen. Availability of low cost mobiles and service provider SIMs made it possible for every section of society to own a mobile phone. Since then there has been steady growth in number of cell phone users. Today according to PTA statistics over 62 percent of Pakistani citizens use cell phones. It is a very cheap and convenient way of communication, specially the short messaging service (SMS). All these benefits have brought some demerits as well which still haunt cell phone users. Criminal minded people began to deceive people by use of fake calls and SMS. Many simple persons fell victim to their evil traps and suffered monetary losses. PTA and network providers only delivered some public service messages and did not carry out any practical steps to stop and apprehend the criminals.
