11 replies to this topic

[ricardo the fish]

Just a few mins ago got a text whose message was

'network message, please delete!'

it is sent from 'pers' -  a name/pseudonym I don't know.

If indeed it was from T-mob then surely it would say the text was from T-mob, would it not.

anyway just wondering of anyone else had got this message?

and any way of finding the number it was sent from? as all I have on my hermes is the option of tapping the name and adding it to my contacts, not something I want to do.

[Confucious]

I received it this morning!

[Markda2000]

This is indeed from Tmob.

They send them out when updating your services on the network, or when they are altering some of your settings.

[PaulOBrien]

I had it this weekend too!

P

[Confucious]

The fact that it just says from "pers" is a bit concerning - I'm sure Orange had something better.

Wow! I've just said O had something better than T - Is there no end to my lunacy?

[PaulOBrien]

O ones used to say "SIM UPDATE"...

P

[Confucious]

Paul (MVP), on Feb 18 2007, 23:14, said:

O ones used to say "SIM UPDATE"...

P

that's right - a bit more informative! pity the rest of there service isn't - lol

[Christopher Woods]

It's just a system message.

They're common across all networks, and they're called OTAPS - Over The Air Programme Settings messages. My mate who used to work for Virgin Mobile had to write some different OTAPS for phones which weren't officially supported (like some of the Motorolas which wouldn't correctly accept the GPRS settings) and he said it was a pain in the arse to do.

Dumb phones just receive the message, apply the new network settings instantly then delete them when your phone reboots. However, WM being as WM is, it regards them as a regular text message and keeps them in your inbox even though they're a system message. pers is just the system identifier, disregard it.

I'm sure Vodafone's otaps are just as bizarrely-named

[Confucious]

Do you know what sort of things they update? I have just received my replacement O2Exec which I run on T-Mob - do these OTAPs change anything I need to change? Or will having the latest ROM fix anything these OTAPs do? Or can't you tell?

[Christopher Woods]

Confucious, on Mar 20 2007, 16:12, said:

Do you know what sort of things they update? I have just received my replacement O2Exec which I run on T-Mob - do these OTAPs change anything I need to change? Or will having the latest ROM fix anything these OTAPs do? Or can't you tell?

OTAPS (at least in my opinion) have always been for dumber, regular phones - smartphones ironically won't accept the settings forwarded by these messages to handsets, so you have to set them yourself. 'smart'phones, heh.

All the OTAPS messages contain are things like server settings, MMSC details, APNs and gateways for GPRS/3G connectivity, etc - network customisation for the phone. Nothing like fixes for hardware bugs or anything like the kinda patches or updates you'd see in an AKU update. On the T-Mobile site, there's a self-service section where you can send your (smart)phone particular settings, but I think they just push wap a CAB file with the appropriate settings to your phone.

[Mrs Harris]

These messages are SIM update messages... they can be used to update things like your voicemail number (the number actually called whe you press and hold 1) as well as updating your preferred PLMN list... this is the list of preferred foreign networks that T-Mobile would like you to use when you're roaming.  These updates work across all the handsets I believe and it's more than likely that it was one of the above types of things that was being updated... as at the time of posting we were approaching the summer (the time most peeps go abroad for their holidays).

[yoda6]

Interesting coincidence. I just accidently dialled a voice call to 90273 and I'm sure I heard it ring once before I was able to disconnect the call. Just a few seconds later I got one of these messages from "per" saying "Network message, please delete!". I'm on t-mobile too. Anybody else want to try dialling that number and see if the same happens to them? Go on, I dare ya!

UPDATE: Called the number again and it is t-mobile's voice mail system, and it does send an update message.

Edited by yoda6, 31 October 2007 - 05:08 PM.