A device that can be used to send local SMS blasts was being sold online, according to a telco official.
On Friday, a telco official said that a device that can be used to send location-based SMS blasts while bypassing carriers was being sold online.
Manny Estrada, the head of Globe Telecom’s Technology and Strategy Service Integration, said that those SMS broadcasters were designed to work in disaster and emergency situations.
Estrada said in an ANC Headstart interview that those devices were designed to work without any cellular signal altogether.
He also said that those devices were standalone equipment and users can deploy those devices in an area where they needed to broadcast emergency messages even when there were no telco networks available.
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In addition, Estrada said that those devices, which were sold online for as much as PHP 10 million, were supposed to be regulated.
“In the Philippines, ano, there’s actually a law which prohibits anybody from using it, and in fact, you cannot simply buy it, because you need to have government clearance. Unfortunately, apparently, these particular types of…are even available online,” Estrada said.
Earlier, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said that it was investigating SMS blasts promoting the candidacy of presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., which were sent out at the time that he filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) at the Sofitel tent in Pasay City.
An NTC official noted that SMS blasts should only be sent during emergencies.
The camp of Bongbong Marcos has denied any hand in the text blasts, dubbing it as one of the many “demolition jobs” perpetrated by those who wanted to frustrate his candidacy.
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