[color=#666666]The Sun, Mon, 12 Jul 2004, by Llew-Ann Phang[/color]

TO SOME, they seem like a bunch of crazy folk with nothing better to do. But to those with dextrous thumbs, there is nothing freakish about spending hundreds or even thousands of ringgit on short message service (SMS) to win prizes.

Businessman Siew Kam Hong, 28, has had lady luck smiling upon him ever since he got smitten by the SMS bug two years ago, when the SMS contest craze started.

The most he has spent on one SMS contest is RM20,000 — on behalf of his sweetheart — hoping to win a four-wheel-drive worth RM170,000.

Siew, who paid the bills in three installments, ended up winning his other half a motorcycle worth RM6,000 — not a very rewarding investment.

That aside, Siew has also won five top prizes in the many contests that he has participated in — of which one is an Alfa Romeo.

"The main factors in convincing me to participate in a contest are a clear list of terms and conditions and of course the range of prizes," said Siew, who does not favour contests which require a slogan.

Other prizes he has won are a television set, handphones and vouchers.

Siew's girlfriend, Wong Jee Wei, 26, last week took organisers of the SMS contest that won her the motorcycle to the Consumer Claims Tribunal, which threw out her claim.

"I think the tribunal found it unreasonable to claim RM20,000 mostly because the respondent had only been liable for about RM3,000," she said.

"We were not treated fairly because the terms and conditions were made to confuse the participants. There was no mention of a shortlist of the 50 with the most number of messages and there was certainly nothing said about the slogan being the determining factor at the end of the contest," said the businesswoman.

Wong vowed never again to participate in competitions that require a slogan or those judged according to the number of messages sent.

"I am now very wary and will look out for the organisers of the competition … no more," she said, adding that she has only taken part in one other competition for which she spent RM200 on SMS.

Wong and Siew's good friend T.J. Tan is a regular participant of SMS contests.

Tan, 30, who is self-employed, has a few consolation prizes tucked under his belt and often consults Wong and Siew on contests to take part in.

"I am very careful about the terms and conditions and if I am not sure, I will contact the organisers to clear my doubts, but it is usually the prizes that attract my attention," he said.

It must be said, however, that Tan is a little less spend-thrift than Siew and allocates only about RM200 to RM300 the most for each contest.

"I have taken part in over 50 contests in the last two years and I know of people who would take part in SMS contests rather than the post-in competitions because SMS does not require much time and is convenient.

"I usually stay away from those that require a slogan," said Tan, who prefer contests that test one's speed and skills in SMS.

It must be admitted, he added, that there are various problems that consumers face in this growing game trend.

"This is a gamble where if you do not have the funds, you should not take part in the game.

"Sometimes, the criteria set are unfair and in the midst of a competition, the organisers may amend the terms and conditions so there needs to be a proper governing body to ensure that all terms and conditions are upheld during the course of the contest," he said.

He said the use of a slogan to decide the winner in the event of a tie is often an excuse by the organisers to protect themselves.

Tan said at the end of the day, the contestants do not know how the winners are picked.

"There are times when we have to admit that we lost because there were better players but we need to look for evidence that we complied with all criteria," he added.

Simple as the consolation prizes may be, to Tan, the hotel stays and food vouchers are worth the money spent.

The trio, like many others, are always on the lookout for a good competition but just how many more are willing to gamble so much to win?

There is an up-coming competition incorporating television, SMS and encryption technology, and contestants stand a chance to win a million.

The organisers have already provided instructions that those interested need to buy a game pack costing RM10 and register for the contest via handphone.

The participant will also need to constantly watch a particular channel for cues to call.

Once it is spotted, the decoder available from the pack needs to be "put-on" and on-screen instructions are to be adhered to, following which the contestant will have to answer multiple-choice questions to accumulate points.

The organisers will shortlist 100 participants, from which 10 will be picked for the final round and one "lucky" winner will become an instant millionaire.

The million dollar question is, do contestants have to fork out more than the prize money to win the million?

6.1b text messages sent last year

Last year, Malaysians posted 6.1 billion text messages. This is a considerable figure, as there were 11.1 million handphone owners then.

According to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), as at the end of March, Malaysians owned 11.7 million handphones, or 72.1% of the combined fixed and mobile phone lines nationwide.

A total of 1.9 billion text messages were sent out for first quarter of this year, chalking up a revenue of about RM2 billion for telecommunication companies.

Before being allowed to provide SMS service, telecommunication companies or other such parties are required to obtain an application service provider (ASP) licence from the MCMC.

However, there is no regulating body to monitor the contests organised or a governing entity to ensure that organisers, especially technology providers, comply with the guidelines and keep to their set terms and conditions.

Content providers are exempted from any licensing requirements as the industry wants to promote development of local content.

However, MCMC came up a proposal for a set of guidelines on Feb 27, entitled: "Review of the Audiotext Hosting Services (AHS) Regulatory Framework; And Applying Uniform Guidelines to Content that is Delivered via the Public Switched Telephone Network and the Cellular Mobile Platforms".

Under this proposal, the commission can assume the authority to create specific guidelines for various services offered, including fund-raising and charitable promotions.

The changes proposed are aimed at improving the current regulatory framework to contribute to the positive development of these services but at the same time, to ensure that the MCMC does not over-regulate the industry thus stifling innovation, growth and revenue to the service providers.

The proposed changes include permitting a broader range of services like e-payment, game shows and quizzes, live-chat services and contests where a prize or incentive in any form is given with improved rules and control.

Service providers must also ensure that all-correct entries have the same chances of winning, prizes are awarded within 30 days of the closing date of the competition, and within 10 days in the case of instant prizes.

Also, information like how and when the prize winners will be informed, how they can be collected, criteria used for judging entries, alternative prizes available and post-event publicity drives must also be made available.

Skills a criterion

Malaysian laws require that contests must involve skills, which is why many SMS contests have additional requirements such as slogan writing.

Maxis senior general manager for Consumer Marketing Kiang Chew Peng said contestants are required to answer a series of questions and/or write a slogan and the winner will then be the one with an all-correct entry and the best slogan.

"Maxis has also, in the past, conducted contests based on skills like speed which requires contestants, among others, to unscramble phrases and reply with the correct phrase in the quickest possible time and the fastest contestant will be the winner," she said.

Bound by a set guideline by the Finance Ministry, most contests organised by Maxis are designed to reward customers for their loyalty and support or to encourage the adoption of new services, Kiang said.

Clarifying on the price paid for text messages, she said there are various types of messages which are charged differently.

"In the case of Maxis, customers pay a rate of 7 to 10 sen for each Maxis-to-Maxis SMS, 20 sen for each SMS sent to another Malaysian telecommunication company and 50 sen for each SMS sent overseas.

"There is a separate category of SMS for content that is provided by external parties.

"These generally cost more and the revenue is shared between the external party and Maxis — the external party usually earns the higher percentage of the price of any premium text message requested," she said, adding that Maxis's SMS traffic from contests is very small compared with the normal SMS traffic

[color=#666666]source: http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=3980
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