Cell Service Providers Used WhatsApp Block for Their Own Interests

12/25/2015 - 11h05

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JULIO WIZIACK

FROM SÃO PAULO

Cellular service providers were not responsible for the WhatsApp block in the country, but they used the court decision to serve their own interests in the ongoing battle with the application.

Soon after receiving the notification that established the block, on Wednesday (16), Sinditelebrasil, the association that represents the sector, released a communication which said that they had decided to proceed with the court decision.

In February, a court in the Brazilian state of Piauí also demanded the application block, but, at the time, the telecommunications companies appealed the decision immediately and individually.

This time, the service provider Oi was the only one that publicly admitted to having appealed the WhatsApp block. The company does not agree with punishing third parties for problems with the law, in addition to punishing the clients of the application.

On the opposing side was Vivo, the service provider controlled by the Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica. The service provider did not ruminate over contesting the court request.

The company is waging a war against the applications. The service provider's headquarters has already made clear the company's interest in investing in that branch of business in order to compete with WhatsApp and other applications in the same industry.

Service providers TIM and Claro have partnerships with WhatsApp, which allow the application to be used by its clients at no additional cost, depending on their individual plans.

Both providers said they considered appealing to the court against the block, but, in practice, they expected that third parties would take it into their own hands. They are friendly with the applications, but there are points of friction.

The true surprise in the incident came from José Félix, president of América Móvil in Brazil, who runs Claro, during an interview with "Teletime".

Despite having called the block request an "exaggeration", Félix told the trade publication that WhatsApp would deliberately be searching for other "access points" to get through the block, a strategy that, according to the executive, "is typical of criminal sites, piracy and pedophilia".

In August, Vivo President Amos Genish also referred to the application as "piracy" for different reasons.

In the field, Félix's declaration brought back rumours that America Móvil and Telefónica would be making leeway on a partnership to create a big applications company capable of facing off with WhatsApp.

THE SAME DISPUTE

The only point the telecommunications companies have in common in their dispute with the applications lies in the typical service plans offered by the company, such as the delivery of SMS messages and internet voice calls.

Those services are regulated by Anatel (National Telecommunications Agency), but the applications are outside of the control of the agency.

The telephone operators have already sent a document to the government demanding "isonomy". For them, applications like WhatsApp are offering a "pirated" service.

They agree that the applications should be allowed to provide this service, as long as the service providers are no longer bound to comply with the rules currently in place for voice and text service.

Translated by SUGHEY RAMIREZ

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