1、SAFEGUARDING THELONG-TERM FUTURE OFINTERNATIONAL SMSFEBRUARY 2024IN ASSOCIATION WITHExecutive SummaryPositioning StatementRecommendations from Contributing MEF Members So What is Artificial Inflation of Traffic(AIT)?The Ideal AIT Market ConditionsHigh International Termination RatesStructure of Excl
2、usivity AgreementsAuthentication Use CaseWhat The Mobile Network Operators SayWhat The Brands SayImpact of AIT on Messaging EcosystemAboutThe Contributing MEF membersC NTENTS34467788910121616Mobilesquared has identified 50“at-risk”markets where significant increases tointernational termination rates
3、 are attracting excessive levels of fraud.a.The at-risk markets are primarily in Asia,Africa and the Middle East.Brands are no longer willing to bear the increased costs associated with the delivery ofinternational authentication messages(such as one-time passwords OTPs)in these at-risk markets.a.As
4、 the overall spend is not driven by transaction volumes but rather by abnormal ratesincreases,the spend itself cannot be justified.The high international termination rates are attracting growth in fraud,and ArtificialInflation of Traffic(AIT)fraud in particular.The combination of high international
5、rates and AIT a secondary factor,is potentiallyjeopardising the long-term future of international A2P SMS in these at-risk markets,wherebrands are looking to restrict their spend on SMS business messaging.A number of at-risk markets have now experienced a decline in international traffic up to50%in
6、the last 4 months;this will extend to more markets unless this risk is tackled.Major brands believe high international rates and AIT fraud has made SMS a damagedchannel in selected markets,irreparably so in some brands view.Mobile operators believe they lost$4.7 billion in revenues in 2023(separate