Smart arse Indian Operators turned off delivery reports last year to ease load

Link: Trouble-free network, cell firms promise-India-NEWS-The Times of India

The Times of India has had quite a lot of mobile related stories on it recently. Here’s another, ostensibly it’s reporting that Indian mobile operators are promising a ‘trouble free’ New Year’s Eve in terms of traffic. (These are the same operators who recently decided to revoke all reduced-cost SMS deals on high traffic periods.)

What really interested me was the following paragraphs discussing the appalling service last year:

In past years, mobile users have often complained that their New Year wishes did not reach friends on January 1.

The fact that networks did not send customers delivery reports on New Year’s day in order to ease the load only added to people’s anxiety;. therefore they kept texting the same person again and again.

The result: many reported a flood of identical messages from the same person, resulting in waste of money and adding to further congestion in the network.

What bright spark reckoned that switching off delivery reports would ease the load?

That is an absolutely 100% typical response from a techie not living in the real world and understanding that to many, the delivery report is an integral part of sending a text message.

Duh.