Telstra SMS - a technical problem

I'm having a problem with SMSs sent via Telstra pre-paid SIMs.
Telstra is changing certain messages I send through them.

The default character set for SMSs is 7-bit. This allows 128
possible characters.

But there are more than 128 characters defined. This is made
possible by using an extension table (GSM 03.38, section 6.2).
One special character (escape, or 27 decimal) in the first
table means (when used) that the next character comes from the
second table. So characters from the second table always use 2
character positions in a message.

The characters in the second table are:

| ^ { } [ ] ^ \

and the Euro currency symbol. So to send the left curly bracket
"{" for example, the 2 characters 27 and 40 decimal are
actually sent over-the-air. Normally, the char(27) escape
character isn't seen, but I've had to analyze the raw messages
to get to the bottom of this.

However, Telstra changes my char(27) to char(96) (an upside-down
question mark, which shows on the display). And the char(40)
then prints as its first-table equivalent (the left-round
bracket "(" instead). In the same way, sending the Euro symbol
from a Telsta service means it's received as upside-down
question mark followed by the letter "e" (the first-table
equivalent).

This happens when I send messages using the phone's keypad, or
compose my own in PDU-mode.

Sending an SMS via a Vodafone SIM works properly as expected.
I've tried different brands of phone, and the only common
factor is that special characters above fail to be delivered
correctly when lodged with Telstra. Sending from a Vodafone
account to a Telstra account works fine.

I'd like to hear about anyone else's experience in sending any
of the above characters from a Telstra service.

John

---

› See More: Telstra SMS - a technical problem

On 29/05/06 14:43, John Henderson uttered the following...

>I'm having a problem with SMSs sent via Telstra pre-paid SIMs.
>Telstra is changing certain messages I send through them.
>
>The default character set for SMSs is 7-bit. This allows 128
>possible characters.
>
>But there are more than 128 characters defined. This is made
>possible by using an extension table (GSM 03.38, section 6.2).
>One special character (escape, or 27 decimal) in the first
>table means (when used) that the next character comes from the
>second table. So characters from the second table always use 2
>character positions in a message.
>
>The characters in the second table are:
>
> | ^ { } [ ] ^ \
>
>and the Euro currency symbol. So to send the left curly bracket
>"{" for example, the 2 characters 27 and 40 decimal are
>actually sent over-the-air. Normally, the char(27) escape
>character isn't seen, but I've had to analyze the raw messages
>to get to the bottom of this.
>
>However, Telstra changes my char(27) to char(96) (an upside-down
>question mark, which shows on the display). And the char(40)
>then prints as its first-table equivalent (the left-round
>bracket "(" instead). In the same way, sending the Euro symbol
>from a Telsta service means it's received as upside-down
>question mark followed by the letter "e" (the first-table
>equivalent).
>
>This happens when I send messages using the phone's keypad, or
>compose my own in PDU-mode.
>
>Sending an SMS via a Vodafone SIM works properly as expected.
>I've tried different brands of phone, and the only common
>factor is that special characters above fail to be delivered
>correctly when lodged with Telstra. Sending from a Vodafone
>account to a Telstra account works fine.
>
>I'd like to hear about anyone else's experience in sending any
>of the above characters from a Telstra service.
>
>John
>
>
Interesting... I can confirm this behavior.

I have a Nokia 6670 on a post-paid MobileNet account.

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Zyxak wrote:

> Interesting... I can confirm this behavior.
>
> I have a Nokia 6670 on a post-paid MobileNet account.

Thanks. If Telstra haven't noticed this thread and fixed it up
in a few days, I'll tackle reporting it to them. Not looking
forward to that, however.

John

"John Henderson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Zyxak wrote:
>
>> Interesting... I can confirm this behavior.
>>
>> I have a Nokia 6670 on a post-paid MobileNet account.
>
> Thanks. If Telstra haven't noticed this thread and fixed it up
> in a few days, I'll tackle reporting it to them. Not looking
> forward to that, however.
>
> John

Confirmed the problem. I suggest you do report it to Telstra and it could
even be resolved as early as 2009.

Jeremy Quirke wrote:

> Confirmed the problem. I suggest you do report it to Telstra and it could
> even be resolved as early as 2009.

Isn't that a little optimistic mate? This is the biggest sheltered
workshop in the country we are talking about

"Albinus" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Jeremy Quirke wrote:
>
>> Confirmed the problem. I suggest you do report it to Telstra and it could
>> even be resolved as early as 2009.
>
> Isn't that a little optimistic mate? This is the biggest sheltered
> workshop in the country we are talking about

The good news is the excellent John Howard & Co. are slowly putting an end
to that.

"John Henderson" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm having a problem with SMSs sent via Telstra pre-paid SIMs.
> Telstra is changing certain messages I send through them.

interesting

> The default character set for SMSs is 7-bit. This allows 128
> possible characters.
>
> But there are more than 128 characters defined. This is made
> possible by using an extension table (GSM 03.38, section 6.2).
> One special character (escape, or 27 decimal) in the first
> table means (when used) that the next character comes from the
> second table. So characters from the second table always use 2
> character positions in a message.
>
> The characters in the second table are:
>
> | ^ { } [ ] ^ \
>
> and the Euro currency symbol. So to send the left curly bracket
> "{" for example, the 2 characters 27 and 40 decimal are
> actually sent over-the-air. Normally, the char(27) escape
> character isn't seen, but I've had to analyze the raw messages
> to get to the bottom of this.
>
> However, Telstra changes my char(27) to char(96) (an upside-down
> question mark, which shows on the display). And the char(40)
> then prints as its first-table equivalent (the left-round
> bracket "(" instead). In the same way, sending the Euro symbol
> from a Telsta service means it's received as upside-down
> question mark followed by the letter "e" (the first-table
> equivalent).
>
> This happens when I send messages using the phone's keypad, or
> compose my own in PDU-mode.
>
> Sending an SMS via a Vodafone SIM works properly as expected.
> I've tried different brands of phone, and the only common
> factor is that special characters above fail to be delivered
> correctly when lodged with Telstra. Sending from a Vodafone
> account to a Telstra account works fine.
>
> I'd like to hear about anyone else's experience in sending any
> of the above characters from a Telstra service.

i dont think anyone actually cares
>
> John

Michael wrote:

> i dont think anyone actually cares

Is that meant to be another Telstra coverup? If the other carriers can
get it right surely Telstra can.

"Albinus" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Michael wrote:
>
>> i dont think anyone actually cares
>
> Is that meant to be another Telstra coverup? If the other carriers can get
> it right surely Telstra can.

Even a pig-ignorant child like you should have heard of Michael's Axiom -
since Telstra is a perfect company in every possible way, then if a
competing company does something differently, by the very definition *THAT*
telco must be doing something wrong.

Jeremy Quirke wrote:

> Even a pig-ignorant child like you should have heard of Michael's Axiom -
> since Telstra is a perfect company in every possible way, then if a
> competing company does something differently, by the very definition *THAT*
> telco must be doing something wrong.
>

Thank you Quirkles - I stand corrected. I should top myself at once

Jeremy Quirke wrote:

> "Albinus" wrote:
>> Jeremy Quirke wrote:
>>
>>> Confirmed the problem. I suggest you do report it to Telstra and it
>>> could even be resolved as early as 2009.
>>
>> Isn't that a little optimistic mate? This is the biggest sheltered
>> workshop in the country we are talking about
>
> The good news is the excellent John Howard & Co. are slowly putting an
> end to that.

Yep soon it won't be the biggest sheltered workshop in Australia.

It'll then be the biggest sheltered workshop in India.

Tom N <[email protected]> wrote:
> Jeremy Quirke wrote:
>
>> "Albinus" wrote:
>>> Jeremy Quirke wrote:
>>>
>>>> Confirmed the problem. I suggest you do report it to Telstra and it
>>>> could even be resolved as early as 2009.
>>>
>>> Isn't that a little optimistic mate? This is the biggest sheltered
>>> workshop in the country we are talking about
>>
>> The good news is the excellent John Howard & Co. are slowly putting
>> an end to that.
>
> Yep soon it won't be the biggest sheltered workshop in Australia.
>
> It'll then be the biggest sheltered workshop in India.

They dont have sheltered workshops in india, stupid.

Michael wrote:

> i dont think anyone actually cares

Unfortunately, this may well be the Telstra attitude. But it
also means that the Telstra SMSC is not GSM 03.38 compliant:

"This code is an escape to an extension of the 7 bit default
alphabet table. A receiving entity which does not understand
the meaning of this escape mechanism shall display it as a
space character."

Space is char(32) in both ASCII and the GSM default alphabet.
It is not char(96).

John

"Tom N" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Jeremy Quirke wrote:
>
> > "Albinus" wrote:
> >> Jeremy Quirke wrote:
> >>
> >>> Confirmed the problem. I suggest you do report it to Telstra and it
> >>> could even be resolved as early as 2009.
> >>
> >> Isn't that a little optimistic mate? This is the biggest sheltered
> >> workshop in the country we are talking about
> >
> > The good news is the excellent John Howard & Co. are slowly putting an
> > end to that.
>
> Yep soon it won't be the biggest sheltered workshop in Australia.
>
> It'll then be the biggest sheltered workshop in India.

Perhaps biggest SW in the world. Located in India. Owned in Singapore!

John Henderson wrote:
> I'm having a problem with SMSs sent via Telstra pre-paid SIMs.
> Telstra is changing certain messages I send through them.
>
> The default character set for SMSs is 7-bit. This allows 128
> possible characters.
>
> But there are more than 128 characters defined. This is made
> possible by using an extension table (GSM 03.38, section 6.2).
> One special character (escape, or 27 decimal) in the first
> table means (when used) that the next character comes from the
> second table. So characters from the second table always use 2
> character positions in a message.
>
> The characters in the second table are:
>
> | ^ { } [ ] ^ \
>
> and the Euro currency symbol. So to send the left curly bracket
> "{" for example, the 2 characters 27 and 40 decimal are
> actually sent over-the-air. Normally, the char(27) escape
> character isn't seen, but I've had to analyze the raw messages
> to get to the bottom of this.
>
> However, Telstra changes my char(27) to char(96) (an upside-down
> question mark, which shows on the display). And the char(40)
> then prints as its first-table equivalent (the left-round
> bracket "(" instead). In the same way, sending the Euro symbol
> from a Telsta service means it's received as upside-down
> question mark followed by the letter "e" (the first-table
> equivalent).
>
> This happens when I send messages using the phone's keypad, or
> compose my own in PDU-mode.
>
> Sending an SMS via a Vodafone SIM works properly as expected.
> I've tried different brands of phone, and the only common
> factor is that special characters above fail to be delivered
> correctly when lodged with Telstra. Sending from a Vodafone
> account to a Telstra account works fine.
>
> I'd like to hear about anyone else's experience in sending any
> of the above characters from a Telstra service.
>
> John

Bizarre, replicated here too on a prepaidplus sim.
I've got a contact at MobileNet, I'll send him an email and see what he
thinks.

-Nick