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What Carriers Arent Eager to Tell You About Texting
textually.org —
... trillion messages will have been sent from cellphones worldwide this year. The public assumes that the wireless carriers costs are far higher than they actually are, and profit margins are concealed by a heavy curtain.
... But the carriers will have other opportunities to tell us more about their pricing decisions: 20 class-action lawsuits have been filed around the country against AT&T; and the other carriers, alleging price-fixing for text messaging services.
[via The New York Times] ...
The obvious truth about text messaging: you're getting ripped off
Engadget —
C'mon folks, does it really take an in-depth research study to figure this one out? On the whole, per-use SMS rates have doubled from $0.10 to $0.20 in the span of three years, and carriers have shown no shame in pushing messaging packs (the "unlimited" one in particular) in an effort to snag more revenue per user. We already knew that Senator Herb Kohl was looking into the matter, and a new piece in The New York Times clearly explains just how lucrative these bite-sized messages are for carriers. We're told that most consumers simply ...
The obvious truth about text messaging: you're getting ripped off
Engadget Mobile —
Filed under: MessagingC'mon folks, does it really take an in-depth research study to figure this one out? On the whole, per-use SMS rates have doubled from $0.10 to $0.20 in the span of three years, and carriers have shown no shame in pushing messaging packs (the "unlimited" one in particular) in an effort to snag more revenue per user. We already knew that Senator Herb Kohl was looking into the matter, and a new piece in The New York Times clearly explains just how lucrative these bite-sized messages are for carriers. ...
The New York Times: Text messages cost carriers virtually nothing
Boing Boing Gadgets —
... used for internal communication between tower and handset to set up a call. The channel uses space whether or not a text message is inserted.
This is why, when you call up and complain about your service, they will often try to placate you with offers of "free text messages...." they are giving away an infinite resource with almost no cost to them but a perceived value to the consumer. Text messaging fees are the biggest scam in the mobile phone market.
What Carriers Aren't Eager To Tell You About Texting [New York Times]
...
Texting? You're Paying Through The Nose!
AppScout —
... as it does to get message from the Hubble Space Telescope. Meanwhile text messages actually cost your cell company approximately nothing! That's the revelation in Randall Strosses piece in Sunday's New York Times. ...
NYT: Text Messages Are an Even Bigger Ripoff Than You Thought [Gougings]
Gizmodo —
... We all know that text messaging is overpriced, but the NYT has pulled back the technological shroud to find out that the prices aren't just bad, they're practically extortionate. ...
How Much You're Really Paying for Text Messages [Text Messaging]
Lifehacker —
[image] The New York Times details a dirty little secret the phone companies really don't want you to know the text messages they charge you for each month cost basically nothing to send. The article, and its revelation, also explains why text messages have such a seemingly arbitrary character limit they're sent through the "control channel," the low-level bandwidth space used in every single call to set up a connection between a handset and tower. So even your "unlimited" $15-per-month plan is a huge payoff for your carrier, regardless of how busy you get on the keypad. Intriguing stuff, and worth thinking about when renegotiating a contract. [ via ; ...
Les Tech
PalmAddicts —
... Lets have some Les Tech for today
The New York Times looks at the real costs of text messaging. Surprising read.
SlipperyBrick posts a review of the Olive Palm Centro. "A common gift people will give themselves for the holiday season is a new phone. With broadband networks getting faster by the minute, a phone that is smart enough to handle surfing the internet, getting email, supporting IM’s and taking pictures becomes more and more attractive. This holiday season we had the opportunity to take a look at a couple of Palm’s ...
Text Messages Cost Carriers Nothing
Wired: Gadget Lab —
Telcos are ripping you off. If you are surprised by this, you may also be interested in some prime real estate I have for sale. It's on the Moon.
But just because we all know that we are being scammed doesn't make the manner of the sting any less interesting. A piece in the New York Times goes into some detail on the cost of text messages to the cell carriers and concludes that it is close to zero. An SMS doesn't even take any bandwidth away from the regular channels which carry calls: That’s why a message is so limited in length: it must not exceed the length of the message used for internal communication between tower and ...
The NYT Makes Late Realization: Text Messages Are A Rip-Off
Fast Company - Technology —
6:32 am | 0 recommendations | 0 comments The NYT Makes Late Realization: Text Messages Are A Rip-Off | posted by Kit Eaton The New York Times has a piece online that's making some waves on the internets: a blasting of cellphone operators for ripping the consumer off with text messaging charges. It is, indeed, true. But it's also late: lawmakers in Europe--where texting has always been more popular than in the US--have been looking into SMS charges for years, and have started to take some serious action. The popularity of the Short Message Service is one of those fortuitous accidents: Though it's evolved over time and now functions on 3G networks, and ...
Shocker! Carriers are Profiting Hansomely from Texting
Technologizer —
Here’s one that isn’t surprising to me in the least: a New York Times investigation into text messaging indicates that it costs carriers virtually nothing to provide the service. This means those extra fees you pay just for the privilege of texting are essentially pure profit for these folks. Even further, text messaging fees are the subject of a new Congressional inquiry that is looking into why text messaging fees have doubled over the past few years. As late as 2005 it only cost 10 cents for a user to send a text message. Then over the next three years all carriers increased the cost to 20 cents, without much of an explanation at all. Sen. Herbert Kohl ...
Text messaging further exposed as a colossal rip-off
VentureBeat —
I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am that The New York Times decided to take on the colossal rip-off that is text messaging in a story this weekend. Text messaging is a great service, but it should be included for free with your “unlimited” data plans, instead the carriers charge an absolutely ridiculous rate to send a tiny amount of data.
It took the iPhone 3G price change to realize what a rip-off it was, but as you can tell from the NYTimes piece, the carriers have been playing a dangerous game bordering on price-fixing with the technology for quite some time now. I’ll highlight some of the best parts of ...
NYT: Text Messaging "Virtually No Cost" to Carriers [Texting]
Consumerist —
... why the hell do we pay for it? How many tweens have been grounded based on corporate greed? How many sidekicks shunned in the name of the almighty dollar? And how did they get the chutzpah to increase the going rate for a text message despite its complete lack of skin off of their back? Makes me (and my blackberry) kind of angry. Down with the Cellular Bourgeoisie! The Revolution will not be fit into 160 characters! Or, would a flash mob be more appropriate in this case? [ NYT ] Pic:[ Jgodsey ]
TXT Messages: The Ripoff They Don't Want You To Know About
Homotron.net —
Recently, the price of text messages has been at the front of my thoughts, due to the recent glut of mass texted "Merry Christmas" messages from friends (and acquaintances I hadn't heard from in years.) Now, you'd think that in 2008, with an iPhone that has an unlimited data plan... that I'd have no issue with the cost of text messages.
You'd be wrong.
See, by the time Christmas rolled around, I'd already spent my allowance of 250 text messages for the month, which, by the way, are *not* included in the iPhone plan. I'm paying $5/month for the privilege.
So how much did every single one ...
Bad Apple: An Argument Against Buying an iPhone [Rants]
Lifehacker —
[image] Apple rejected the Google Voice iPhone application from App Store distribution yesterday, the most recent in a long line of questionable moves, and the message is clear: If you want a device that won't lock you out of innovation, skip the iPhone . Photo by rore . Lest We Forget [image] There's no question that this brilliant little piece of hardware has sparked a revolution in the world of mobile computing and cellphones, and, likewise, there's no question that consumers have benefited from that. I've been a believer in the iPhone from the start (hell, I even co-wrote a book on the stupid thing), but despite all ...
