SMS Job Hunting

An Italian job center text messaged 1000 people notifying them of a job opening. The move was a last resort but the job center plans to use SMS again in the future. The messages were unsolicited and could technically be considered spam. This raises an interesting question. If you give someone your mobile number, isn't receiving a text message the same as having them call you? The one difference of course, is that you can choose to ignore the call and not get charged (not really an issue in Europe where generally calling party pays). SMS doesn't have that option. But I doubt job hunters are going to complain about someone trying to get them a job.