Ofcom plan to allow text message sign-ups for TPS

Mobile phone users will be able to sign up to the Telephone Preference Service simply by sending a text message under new plans being considered by regulator Ofcom.
The development has been highlighted in a progress report by consumer group Which? as part of its campaign to tackle nuisance calls, which recently revealed rogue calls to mobiles are on the rise.
The TPS can accept the registration of mobile telephone numbers, yet those signing up will only block marketing voice calls, not text messages.
Ofcom is working on the plans to allow mobile users to sign up to the TPS as well as with other technical call-blocking programmes.
Which? executive editor Richard Lloyd said: “Despite some good progress, we are still seeing high levels of unwanted calls and texts, so more needs to be done to put an end to this everyday menace once and for all.”
Meanwhile, according to an update from Ofcom and the Information Commissioner’s Office, a move to mandatory caller-ID for telemarketing is also on the cards.
Ofcom has engaged with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) on standardising methods of caller line identification (CLI) to help ensure that the CLI provided by the caller, and presented with a call, is accurate. This is in response to a rise in so-called CLI spoofing, which has seen firms use a false number to try to get consumers to pick up the phone,
The regulators believe the move will also help minimise calls from those nuisance callers who wish to hide their identity and make it easier to block or screen unwanted calls.
Ofcom is working with providers to implement CLI authentication in the UK as quickly as possible, but concedes it will only be fully effective when it is adopted on a global scale which may take a number of years.