This video goes into excruciating detail about the one-time interconnection performed by SMS gateway operators to carriers, but skips over that part for the tra

This video goes into excruciating detail about the one-time interconnection performed by SMS gateway operators to carriers, but skips over that part for the traditional 800 services, which is more complex and political than wireless services. Additionally, it spends a lot of time on the 'mobile marketing agency' concept, which is not a requirement at all. You can pick up your own short code from the US Short Code administration, and turn up with any gateway operator of your choice. The gateway operator has already negotiated interconnection with T-Mobile, Cricket, AT&T, Sprint, etc., so you don't have to. The only unconventional one I know of in the US is T-Mobile, who requires an additional $500 setup fee. You can't make payments to an 800 number naturally, so on the wireless side you have an additional party, known as a clearinghouse, who is set up to do the billing with the 19240824901 different carriers from where your users originate, so that you don't have to. The SMS market isn't as hellish as people make it out to be. If you're concerned about cost, well, the fewer players there are in a market, the less liquid the prices are going to be. Try to connect to 1,000 carriers around the world, with different systems, different billing methods (due to different plans with their subscribers), different levels of deposits required, different types of interconnection (MPLS VPN, T1, SIP, HTTP, proprietary protocols, etc) and you'll quickly realize the great amount of complexity involved.