Mobile spam messages to be blocked in UAE soon

Dubai: Mobile phone subscribers in the UAE will soon have the choice of blocking unwanted commercial and promotional text messages. 

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has announced that it has asked telecommunications operators du and etisalat to provide subscribers with information on how to block incoming text messages. 

A TRA official told the local Arabic newspaper Emarat El Youm that beginning next June subscribers will be able to block all spam messages. 

The TRA has reached an agreement with du and etisalat on the matter and the option to block unwanted promotions text messages will be made available based on the subscriber's request. 

The only exception will be text messages sent by banks as it is a service provided to update customers on their bank accounts, said the official.