Apart from a code of conduct for premium SMS services developed by the wireless application service provider's association (WASPA), signed in September, no formal regulation governs the content provided to cellular users, particularly children.

By signing last week's agreement, the three major operators have committed themselves to ensuring that adult content and subscription-based content is delivered to the intended recipients responsibly, in what WASPA chairman, Leon Perlman has described as an evolving issue.

According to a press release issued at the signing ceremony, the success of the initiative relies on the operators putting in place access controls or filtering measures to control access to adult content.

While the code of good practice is in no way a censorship measure, operators have all agreed that WASPs will have to adhere to certain requirements, and take more accountability for the content they deliver, in order to make use of the operators' infrastructures.

Amongst the requirements are: only solicited messages and content are to be sent to users, and the ability to subscribe or unsubscribe from content delivery services was made easier for consumers.