15 June 2007

Riots Over "lost" SMS Votes for Indian TV Show

Offices of India's Reliance and BSNL were besieged after there were rumours that the mobile networks were blocking SMS votes for a contestant in the reality TV show, Indian Idol. Local press report that Prashant Tamang, a police constable in Calcutta, was among the 12 finalists of the TV show.

People claimed that their SMS votes were not being registered and claimed "sabotage", although the networks denied this and indeed, Tamang did proceed into the TV show finals.

"After sending an SMS through Reliance we were getting a message saying the code word was not found. This means our votes were not getting through. We believe this is sabotage," Pranay Rai, Gorkha National Liberation Front MLA from Darjeeling told The Telegraph newspaper. BSNL subscribers had also claimed that delivery receipts were not being sent back to them.

On Saturday morning, a crowd vandalized a Reliance retail store in Darjeeling, while another mob smashed poster adverts across town. BSNL and Reliance offices were besieged by crowds in Kalimpong, and Kurseong saw protests in the streets.

A Reliance spokesperson suggested that there may have been problems at the TV studio side - but that all votes were registered.

http://www.cellular-news.com/story/24270.php

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