telephone

The Government remains committed to ending telephone SPAM and is now targeting electricity companies. It’s still a shot in the air

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The Spanish Government’s crusade against SPAM calls continues. At the beginning of the week, the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge approved the new General Regulations supply, marketing and aggregation of electrical energy. The main purpose of this is, according to the Government, to protect consumers through new measures. And one of them collides head-on with a recurring practice of marketers: SPAM calls. The measure. After the entry into force of the new regulation, telephone calls to advertise or contract services are prohibited, as long as “they have not been expressly requested by the consumer in advance or they are the one who calls the company.” It will not have immediate effect, companies will have four months to adapt to the regulations, under penalty of fines of between 600,000 and 6,000,000 euros if they fail to comply, according to the Law 24/2013, of the Electrical Sector. There is more. In addition to the prohibition of calls without express consent, the Royal Decree establishes the obligation to provide a completely free customer service number, as well as a maximum period of 15 days to respond to user claims and complaints. It is also prohibited to cut power to electro-dependent consumers on holidays and eves. Very nice, but. Although the Government has been trying to tackle the SPAM problem for more than a year, the reality is very different. According to the OCU, 99% of Spaniards (me among them, this week) continue to receive unwanted calls. Some companies continue to take advantage prior consent to send advertising communications, and others are providing their call centers with telephone numbers outside the traditional prefixes to continue with their practice, despite the fact that the law penalizes it. An endless war. The war against SPAM does not only affect Image | Xataka In Xataka | If you are tired of receiving spam calls every day, good news: MasOrange is tired too

In 1792, before the telephone, a Frenchman invented the first telecommunications system in history: the optical telegraph.

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We live in full Digital Ageand sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that until the end of the 20th century anything similar to the Internet was pure science fiction. But it is not true, because already in the 19th century the telegraph began to allow us to disseminate information in real time, which has earned Morse’s invention the nickname of the Victorian Internet. optical telegraph. But before Morse invented the telegraph in 1832, there were other attempts to make information travel long distances almost in real time. One of them saw the light in 1792 at the hands of the French inventor Claude Chappe. It is about the optical telegrapha tower with two mobile arms that changed position depending on what was wanted to be communicated, and which today is considered the first practical telecommunications system. The origins. This type of communication medium was first devised in 1684 by the British scholar Robert Hooke, although he never put his theory into practice. In 1767 Sir Richard Lovell Edgeworth proposed a first design optical telegraph to transmit the results of a race, but it was not until Chappe developed his that they began to become popular. Claude Chappe and his brothers developed their communication system in 1792, and it was so successful in France that the country created a network of 556 stations that communicated an area of ​​4,800 kilometers. The system was promoted for commercial use, but Napoleon Bonaparte liked the idea and decided to use it to coordinate his troops over long distances. How it worked. The system was made up of a mast from which two mobile arms came out. At two meters long each, the arms were so large that they could be seen from great distances, and only two levers were needed to make them move. As we see in the image, the position of the arms would determine the number or letter that was wanted to be transmitted. The milestone. The first message with the French optical telegraph network was transmitted from Lille to Paris in 1794, and 22 towers were used to carry it across 230 kilometers. It was used for national communications until the 1850s, and the model was modified and used in other countries such as Sweden, Hungary, the United Kingdom, Germany and the Spain of Charles IV. became famous. In France it enjoyed great popularity, and reached be described in works as important as “The Count of Monte Cristo” by Alexandre Dumas in 1844. But the same desire to quickly and effectively develop communications that drove and led Chappe’s invention to success also ended up being his undoing. In 1846 and after several failed attempts, Samuel Morse finally managed to convince France to replace it with his new electric telegraph, which could be used at night and in poor visibility. And it ended up prevailing despite the fact that many experts of the time predicted its failure due to the ease with which its lines could be cut, although that is another story. Images | Wikimedia (1, 2, 3 and 4)

Mexico has decided to register all telephone lines in the country. The teleoperators have decided to challenge him

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The national mobile telephone registry has just started in Mexico and is already facing its first big test. And just a few days after it came into force mandatory registration of linesthe country’s main operators have met with the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (CRT) to request a postponement. For operators, deadlines are practically impossible to meet and to this we must add the fact that the technical systems have shown failures from day one. The challenge in figures. Mexico has more than 158 million active telephone lines that must be registered before June 30, 2026. This means that operators such as Telcel, AT&T, Telefónica and Virtual Mobile Operators (OMV) would have to jointly register 923,977 lines each day for 172 days to meet the established deadline. A complicated goal to achieve. Meeting. According to inform the media Expansión, representatives of Telefónica, the OMVs, Televisa and Canieti, which groups companies such as AT&T, attended a meeting with the CRT last Friday to insist on the extension. The main argument was that the industry only had 30 calendar days to develop, test and implement platforms capable of developing a process of such magnitude. According to account According to the media, Canieti had formally requested a postponement since December 30, but did not receive a response from the regulator. The technical problems are already visible. Telcel reported intermittencies on its platforms derived from the high demand of users trying to complete the procedure simultaneously. In addition, complaints arose about a possible security vulnerability on its portal that would have exposed personal data of clients, although the company claimed to have corrected the failure immediately. The CRT limited itself to acknowledging that there were “intermittencies on various platforms” without going into details. The economic cost. Beyond the technical challenges, the registry represents a considerable financial burden. An entrepreneur of an MVNO explained to the Expansión medium that each link has a cost of 3.45 pesos (about 17 euro cents), an amount that only includes the verification of the user with their data, without including taxes. The problem is aggravated because, according to accounts, registration is not always completed on the first attempt and can require up to three or five attempts per line. The CRT estimates point to a total investment of more than 4,053 million pesos (about 194.5 million euros), of which only 22 million pesos would be allocated to the development of the platform and identity verification would correspond to the largest weight of the amount with 4,031 million. Worry. The Mexican Association of Virtual Mobile Operators (AMOMVAC) has also joined the request for a postponement, according to they count from Mobile Time. Although they recognize the security objective of the registry, which is to combat telephone extortion, which according to the Executive Secretariat left 6,880 victims between January and July, they warn about operational, economic and social risks. The association’s main concern is associated with rural communities and populations with low digital literacy, where mobile telephony is an essential service and there is a risk that thousands of lines will be suspended if their owners fail to complete the procedure. And now what. For the moment, the CRT has not officially responded to the extension requests and the calendar remains unchanged: the deadline expires on June 30, 2026. As of July 1, unregistered lines will be suspended, both prepaid and postpaid. Cover image | Chantel and Pepu Rica In Xataka | The “B side” of the United States landing in Venezuela: a subsoil full of hypothetical rare earths

Telephone spam is so desperate in Spain that the Government has had to pass another law to put an end to it

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If there is something that all of Spain agrees on, it is that we must put an end to spam calls, the problem is that at the moment it is not being an easy task. Have call filters that identify them, we can report If they call us without permission and there is even laws to end thembut they keep calling us. Now the Government is back on track with the new Law on Customer Service Services. Another law. It was approved in Congress last month and is waiting to go through the Senate for final approval. It is the first state law to regulate customer service and places special emphasis on abusive practices such as automatic renewals without consent and commercial calls. It is striking that it is already the second law that includes measures against this practice (first was the General Telecommunications Law), which shows that the problem continues despite previous measures. Against spam. The Government banned commercial calls without permission in 2023the problem is that most contracts include a clause called “prior consent”, so the prohibition is of little use. More recently They have banned spam calls from mobile numbers and now the new law includes new measures. Companies will be required to use specific prefixes that distinguish commercial and customer service calls. Operators must block commercial calls that do not use such codes. To discourage companies, contracts closed through non-consensual commercial calls will be declared void. Doubts. The new measures pose more obstacles for companies that bombard us with calls, but we have already seen that the law is made, the trap is made. The obligation to implement specific codes sounds much more effective than other previous measures, but the reality is that we have been talking about the end of spam calls for years and they still continue to call us, so the doubts are there. Furthermore, we still have the problem of telephone scams that escape the regulations. Fake reviews. The fight against spam calls is only one part of the new law. The text also includes fake reviews for the first time, a problem we have been talking about for years. The law sets a limit of 30 days to be able to post a review and prohibits buying and selling reviewsalthough it does not specify how it will fight against this practice. Other measures. The law also includes other obligations for companies that provide customer service: Companies must report the total price of the service from the beginning, including management costs that may make the product more expensive, as often occurs in ticket sales. Customer service numbers cannot be premium rate numbers. They must guarantee that 95% of calls are answered in less than 3 minutes. Customers may request to speak to an operator at any time during the call. The period for addressing claims is reduced to 15 days. If the claim is for an improper charge, the period is reduced to five days. Companies with more than 250 employees that have a turnover of more than 50 million euros must guarantee service in the co-official language of the territory in which they operate. When a contract is automatically renewed, companies must inform 15 days in advance and facilitate cancellation of the service. Image | Pexelsedited In Xataka | If you are tired of receiving spam calls every day, good news: MasOrange is tired too

Spain gave Huawei the storage of judicial telephone listeners. Now the United States and the EU have questions

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The Interior Ministry He awarded Huawei A contract of 12.3 million euros to store judicial telephone interceptions. How could it be otherwise, this agreement has jumped the alarms in Washington and has asked to review the intelligence exchange agreements with Spain. Brussels on the other hand also shows his concern for the decision. What happened. Spain has renewed a contract with Huawei worth 12.3 million euros so that its Ocenostor servers 6800V store the telephone listeners of the Sitel System, used by the State Security Forces. These are interceptions with judicial authorization, not espionage operations. The government defends that it is a stagnant system, without exterior connection, where Chinese technology represents only a minor part of the set. Why alarm to the United States. The presidents of the American Congress and Senate Intelligence Committees, Tom Cotton and Rick Crawford, have sent a letter to the National Intelligence Director asking to review the agreements Information exchange with Spain. They fear that any data shared with Spanish services can end up in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party, since Huawei is subject to Beijing National Security Laws. His argument is that this could allow China to monitor Spanish research on Chinese spies and other intelligence activities of an NATO ally. Europe shows concern. The European Commission also shows misgivings for the Spanish decision. Several sources recognize that They do not understand the contract And they remember that the EU has evaluated Huawei as a “high risk” supplier. From Brussels insist in that “the cheapest offer is not always the best” and stress that security should be evaluated in any public procurement, even if it is not the most economical option. The Chinese answer. Beijing has entered the rag to Defend Huawei. The spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Spain has described American criticisms as “a typical bullying act” and ensures that it is another example of how Washington “generalizes the concept of national security, politicizes commercial issues and imposes a perverse blockade against Chinese companies.” China defends that Huawei complies with European legislation and asks the United States not to entrust in commercial agreements between its government and Spain. A case with contradictions. Curiously, Spain has already banned Huawei Participate in the deployment of 5G following the guidelines of Brussels and Washington when the whole issue broke out a few years ago, but it seems that it still maintains contracts with the Chinese company as in this case. The European Commission itself, which warned about the “high -risk suppliers”, never extended its veto to this type of applications. Huawei argues that its hardware is simply common flash storage that meets national security regulations and does not have access to customer data. What can happen now. The Spanish government has activated diplomatic channels to reassure Washington about system safety. Several experts have interpreted the American reaction as a “overacting.” Enrique Dans, Professor of Innovation at IE Business School, emphasize that “the question to be asked here is who points out with the finger. The United States themselves that today cross out Spain of irresponsible, accusing it of disloyalty, are those that threaten tariffs of more than 20%.” It remains to be seen if this episode will affect the relationship between the two countries in terms of intelligence. Cover image | Spanish Advocacy and Raw Pixel In Xataka | Huawei states that he is staying behind the chips. It is just what we want us to create

An incidence of Telefónica is affecting the emergency telephone 112. There are alternatives for those affected

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An incidence in Telefónica’s infrastructure is causing some problems in fixed lines in various regions of Spain. Especially striking is the impact that this incidence is having on the emergency telephone number, 112. What happened. As indicated In the countrya spokesman for Telefónica reveals that “we have done some network update works that have affected specific services in some companies. We are working to solve it.” Several regions without 112. There are several autonomous communities and regions that Sen have been unable to receive calls to their 112 emergency services by Telefónica clients in these areas. Some of the alternatives are: Aragon Government: 683 638 273/683 134 645/660 705 897 Basque Government: 902 112 088 Generalitat Valenciana: 96 342 80 00 Others affected. In Extremadura too have warned problems And they indicate that they are “working early so that they do not affect the citizen”, but there are no alternative numbers. The same happens in 112 of Andalusia, where It is indicated That this incidence begins to recover in this autonomous community. In it release of the Junta de Andalucía indicate the following: “It should be noted that, this morning, the company Movistar had scheduled an intervention at 03.00, from that moment on, the outgoing calls have begun to be felt, although without affecting the calls of the citizenship that have only been affected in the early morning.” Others get rid. In the Generalitat of Catalonia indicate that the incidence has been minimal “and contingency systems have operated and now work normally.” In 112 of the Community of Madrid There are no notices And it does not seem that there has been an impact. The 112 of Castilla y León also seems to be free of incidents according to those responsibleand the same happens In Galicia either in the Balearic Islands. Other autonomous communities such as Canary Islands, Murcia, Navarra or Cantabria do not register notices in their accounts in X, for example. Irregular impact. The incidence seems to irregularly affect Telefónica customers. From the Department of Security of Telefónica indicate that around four in the morning they have begun to detect “problems with some of the calls that entered the Call Center “. In development …

Argentina says “no” for the sale of the telephone subsidiary to Clarín. Telefónica Spain says “It’s not my problem”

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Javier Milei’s government He has “preventive” suspended the sale of Telefónica Argentina to Telecom (controlled by the Clarín and Fintech group), alleging risks of monopolistic concentration. However, Telefónica has already charged 1,245 million dollars (about 1,190 million euros) and considers the closed and irrevocable operation. The problem is not in your hands now, but in that of your buyers. Why is it important. The operation represents a strategic divestment for Telefónica, which seeks to reduce its exposure in Latin America to focus on their priority markets: Spain, Brazil, Germany and the United Kingdom. Argentina meant only 3% of group’s revenues and generated negative operational results (-199 million euros in 2023). Between the lines. The blockade has a strong political component: Milei maintains an open confrontation with the Clarín Groupowner of 40% of Telecom Argentina and owner of the newspaper of greater circulation in the country and several influential media. The Argentine president has even fixed in his X account A message accusing Clarín of “hosting the government with lies.” The contrast. Milei’s position is contradictory with his ultraliberal ideology. In February, During a speech in Washington, he said that “monopolies are not bad, unless they are armed by the State.” Now it uses precisely antitrust arguments to block an operation between private companies. Yes, but. Argentine legislation, unlike the Spanish or European, contemplates only one EX POST CONTROL of business operations. This means that conditions or restrictions can only be imposed on the buyer, not the seller, and only after closing the transaction. In figures. According to the Argentine government, the merger would create a telecommunications giant that it would concentrate: 61% of the mobile phone market. 69% of fixed telephony. Up to 80% of the residential Internet service in some areas. And now what. Telefónica goes out with the clean jacket of this Barrizal. If the Argentine authorities confirm the dominant position, the only one affected would be Telecom Argentina, which could be forced to sell assets at lower prices than they would put in normal conditions. The objective, reduce its market share. The operation is part of Telefónica’s strategy to disinvest in Latin America, where business They represent 13% of Ebitda with lower margins (19.4% compared to 32.1% of the group). This operation seems clearly advantageous for Telefónica, which can now reinvest the funds achieved in businesses with the greatest growth potential, such as Telefónica Tech or as its position in the United Kingdom. EITHER keep reducing your debt. Outstanding image | Casa RosadaTelefónica In Xataka | 100 years after his birth, Telefónica faces the greatest existential dilemma in its history: what wants to be older

Timeline of Prince Harry’s lawsuit against tabloids for phone hacking and intrusion

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LONDON — Prince Harry’s lawsuit against The Sun concluded dramatically on Wednesday with an apology from the newspaper’s publisher for “serious intrusion” and illegal activities over a 15-year period. The settlement, which includes a “substantial” damages award for Harry, is the latest dramatic twist in two decades of legal drama over the ruthless practices of the British press in the days when newspapers sold millions of copies and shaped the popular conversation. The scandal destroyed a newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch and cost the tycoon hundreds of millions of dollars to settle lawsuits from former tabloids. It also fueled Harry’s quest to tame the British press, which he blames for dividing his family, tarnishing his life and harassing both his late mother, Princess Diana, and his wife, Meghan Markle. Below is a chronology of the legal dispute: November 2005: Murdoch’s Sunday tabloid News of the World reports that Prince William has a knee injury. A complaint from Buckingham Palace sparks a police investigation which reveals that information for the story came from a voicemail that was tapped. January 2007: Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator who worked for the News of the World, is sentenced to six months in prison and the newspaper’s editor, Clive Goodman, to four months for tapping royal advisers’ phones to listen to messages left by William and others. Goodman later admits to hacking William’s phone 35 times and that of his then-girlfriend Kate Middleton—now Princess of Wales—more than 150 times. Murdoch’s company initially maintains that the illicit behavior was the work of two rogue employees who acted without the editors’ knowledge. January 2011: British police are reopening an investigation into phone hacking by tabloids after the News of the World says it has found “significant new information”. April 2011: News of the World admits responsibility for phone hacking. The following month, he agrees to pay actress Sienna Miller £100,000 to settle an espionage claim. Murdoch’s News Corp. has since paid to settle claims by dozens of celebrities, politicians, athletes and others against News of the World and its sister tabloid, The Sun, although it has never accepted responsibility for the hack by The Sun. July 2011: The Guardian newspaper reports that News of the World journalists tapped the phone of Milly Dowler, a murdered 13-year-old schoolgirl, while police were searching for her in 2002. The revelation causes public outrage and prompts Murdoch to close the News of the World. , 168 years old. November 2012: A media ethics inquiry led by a judge and ordered by then-Prime Minister David Cameron concludes that the “scandalous” behavior of some in the press had “wreaked havoc on the lives of innocent people whose rights and freedoms have been disregarded.” . Judge Brian Leveson recommends the creation of a strong press watchdog, backed by government regulation. Their findings have been partially implemented. October 2013: Former News of the World editors Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks are on trial alongside several other defendants at London’s Central Criminal Court on charges of phone hacking and illegal payments to officials. After an eight-month trial, Coulson is convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Brooks is acquitted. She is now chief executive of Murdoch’s British newspaper business. December 2015: England’s attorney general says there will be no further criminal cases against Murdoch’s UK company or its employees, or against 10 people under investigation by rival Mirror Group Newspapers, including former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan. Both companies continue to pay to settle espionage lawsuits. 2019 onwards: Prince Harry launches lawsuits against three newspaper groups: Murdoch’s News Group, Mirror Group and Associated Newspapers. He alleges that stories about his student years, teenage antics, and relationships with girlfriends were obtained through wiretapping, wiretapping, deception, and other forms of illegal intrusion. February 2021: Harry’s wife, Meghan, wins an invasion of privacy lawsuit against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers over the publication of a 2018 letter she wrote to her father. June 2023: Harry testifies in his case against the Mirror Group, becoming the first British royal in over a century to appear in the witness box. December 2023: Enrique wins his case against the Mirror Group when a judge rules that the Mirror newspapers had hired private investigators to snoop on personal information and engaged in illegal phone hacking for more than a decade. He is awarded legal costs and £140,000 in damages. February 2024: Mirror Group agrees to pay Enrique’s legal costs and undisclosed damages to resolve outstanding claims. Enrique says he feels vindicated and promises: “Our mission continues.” January 21, 2025: The trial is about to begin in the lawsuits by Enrique and former Labor Party lawmaker Tom Watson against The Sun. They are the only two remaining among dozens of plaintiffs after others accepted legal settlements rather than face potentially ruinous legal bills. The trial is delayed as attorneys for both sides say they have been conducting intense negotiations over a settlement. January 22, 2025: Both parties announce agreement, News Group Newspapers offers “a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for The Sun’s serious intrusion between 1996 and 2011 into his private life, including incidents of illegal activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun.” Enrique’s lawyer, David Sherborne, calls it a “monumental victory” and declares: “The time for reckoning has come.” Enrique’s case against Associated Newspapers, which publishes the Daily Mail, is ongoing.

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