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PBS cashed in on €1,739 for ‘invalid’ Eurovision SMSes
Broadcasting Services cashed-in €1,739 from “invalid” SMSes received from viewers after televoting had closed.
19 November 2010, 12:00am
Karl Stagno-Navarra
Karl Stagno-Navarra
1 min read
The National Audit Office's annual report shows how PBS billed two mobile telecommunications providers for a total of 24,431 SMSes received on three premium numbers allocated for determining the winner of the Malta Eurosong, but ended up taking over a grand from invalid SMSes because the lines were not closed.
But only 18,432 SMSes were ‘valid’ as the numbers were not disconnected and people still sent in their votes.
In the report, the Auditor General recommended PBS to ‘consider enabling disconnection of the respective SMS numbers allocated for a specific event or programme as soon as the televoting session is closed.’
“This would ensure the public is not charged for SMSes which are invalid,” the Auditor General said.
COLIN GALEA •
We need to go back under British rule,simple very simple.
Alfred Galea •
Is ANYTHING ever done right in this god forsaken island?? Everywhere you look, it's either incompetence, corruption or out and out cheating and fraud. And nobody is ever prosecuted or fired.
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Down payment ghax-xalata li jmiss il-Germanja bl-espert il-gdid b'kollox.
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That is a substantial 25% or 1/4th of the total actual SMSs received.
It would be interesting to know if the invalid proportion was counted would it have actually changed the final results, most especially for those at the top !
