Telecoms watchdog Opta has fined sms company SD&P a total €550,000 for sending spam text messages to mobile phone users, the Financieele Dagblad reports.

The company signed up customers by saying they could win a prize by registering their mobile phone number. In reality, they signed up for an expensive text service costing €1.50 a message.
Opta research showed the company sent out 1.4 million messages to try to attract clients, followed by nine million follow up messages.
The Breda-based firm is appealing against the decision.