5 ms·

More like it's an international price-fixing scam waiting to get slapped with an anti-trust lawsuit by the FCC under President Obama. I'd be absolutely shocked

More like it's an international price-fixing scam waiting to get slapped with an anti-trust lawsuit by the FCC under President Obama. I'd be absolutely shocked if this continues until 2013.

Retric 18y ago
I think the cost of SMS messages are a large part of their value. You can send a message to any phone yet you don't see SMS spam.
- titocosta 18y ago
  I agree with you on this. The fact that sending a message costs strictly more than 0 reduces noise of the communication channel. I think you can achieve the noise reduction with 1 or 2 cents per message, the rest is profit to telecom carriers.
  - alecco 18y ago
    Carriers love spams and scams. I get spam all the time from recruiters and promotions. Carriers also allow high cost unverified opt-in tricks to scam people and get a huge slice (I've read around 50%.) These are in the top reported consumer complaints every year in many countries.
- jonknee 18y ago
  I'd be willing to accept free messaging in return for only allowing incoming messages from numbers saved in my phone (or previously sent to, so texting a shortcode for info wouldn't require adding it to the phonebook first).
- RK 18y ago
  You can send a message to any phone yet you don't see SMS spam. I definitely get SMS spam. I think part of the profit model on SMS spam is that they are high-cost, opt-in messages (that you didn't sign up for). The senders are using a rebate style model, hoping you won't expend the effort of getting your carrier to remove the charges. And then of course I get random, wrong number SMSs, which still cost me.
  - mikeyur 18y ago
    You get charged for incoming SMSs? I have unlimited free incoming sms messages. The only time you get charged is if you're on some pay as you go plans with certain carriers.
    - martey 18y ago
      In the US at least, all of the major wireless providers (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint) charge you for receiving SMS messages (see http://joshmoles.com/2008/04/09/incoming-sms-should-be-free/ http://joshmoles.com/2008/04/09/incoming-sms-should-be-free/ ). The only exception I can think of is if you are paying for a certain number of text messages through your plan (i.e. AT&T offers 200, 1500, and unlimited texting plans) - incoming messages are deducted from this number, though.
      - jonas_b 18y ago
        Wow, then I can understand Americans are keen on getting rid of SMS. Imagine being charged for every email you receive. That would screw up by budget at least.
        RK 18y ago
        I even get a little mad when my friends send me SMS :) You can imagine how pissed off you'd be when you receive spam. My wife once received the same spammy message about 5 days in a row. I didn't think too much of it until we got the bill and each one of those was something like $2.99 a piece from some "premium SMS" service that she had not signed up for.
      - mikeyur 18y ago
        That is extremely stupid, to me anyways. The argument posed when other carriers tried to do it here is that the company was double charging for the service - which stopped a lot of carriers from even attempting to implement the incoming charge. Another thing that's crazy is the cost of your txting plans/packages. My mom and sister are on $25 plans here and get unlimited txting included for free.
- tlrobinson 18y ago
  I have seen SMS spam (though it's rare), and I think it's criminal that carriers can get away with charging the receiver for unsolicited SMS messages. There needs to be a way to opt out of these.
axod 18y ago
In what way is it a price fixing scam??? In the same way your electricity supply is a price fixing scam? Please don't believe the idiotic articles claiming that sending an SMS costs the mobile companies nothing...
- bprater 18y ago
  If all the phone carriers get together and say, "Hey Bob -- if you keep the price of your SMS at 10c, I promise to keep the price of SMS at 10c. We agree to not compete on SMS pricing. That way we can make lots of moola on something that costs both of us nothing."
  - titocosta 18y ago
    that's why they raised it from 10 to 20 cents over the last few years
  - russell 18y ago
    That's collusion and it's illegal. They just watch each other. If verizon doesn't move, Sprint doesn't either. That's also the way airlines match prices.
- russell 18y ago
  Some plans charge 1000 times as much per byte for text as for voice. I would say the difference between zero and non-zero is just noise.
- omouse 18y ago
  SMS costs the carriers virtually nothing. Not exactly $0 but very close, something like $0.000000000000001.
  - eru 18y ago
    They do not contribute to variable costs. But in theory the money made from SMS could be used to cross-subsidize calls.
- 18y ago
twopoint718 18y ago
At least one Senator (Herb Kohl D-WI), is actively looking into this. He's got some pull as the chair of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/business/28digi.html http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/business/28digi.html

More like it's an international price-fixing scam waiting to get slapped with an anti-trust lawsuit by the FCC under President Obama. I'd be absolutely shocked if this continues until 2013.

Retric 18y ago

I think the cost of SMS messages are a large part of their value. You can send a message to any phone yet you don't see SMS spam.

titocosta 18y ago
I agree with you on this. The fact that sending a message costs strictly more than 0 reduces noise of the communication channel. I think you can achieve the noise reduction with 1 or 2 cents per message, the rest is profit to telecom carriers.
- alecco 18y ago
  Carriers love spams and scams. I get spam all the time from recruiters and promotions. Carriers also allow high cost unverified opt-in tricks to scam people and get a huge slice (I've read around 50%.) These are in the top reported consumer complaints every year in many countries.
jonknee 18y ago
I'd be willing to accept free messaging in return for only allowing incoming messages from numbers saved in my phone (or previously sent to, so texting a shortcode for info wouldn't require adding it to the phonebook first).
RK 18y ago
You can send a message to any phone yet you don't see SMS spam. I definitely get SMS spam. I think part of the profit model on SMS spam is that they are high-cost, opt-in messages (that you didn't sign up for). The senders are using a rebate style model, hoping you won't expend the effort of getting your carrier to remove the charges. And then of course I get random, wrong number SMSs, which still cost me.
- mikeyur 18y ago
  You get charged for incoming SMSs? I have unlimited free incoming sms messages. The only time you get charged is if you're on some pay as you go plans with certain carriers.
  - martey 18y ago
    In the US at least, all of the major wireless providers (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint) charge you for receiving SMS messages (see http://joshmoles.com/2008/04/09/incoming-sms-should-be-free/ http://joshmoles.com/2008/04/09/incoming-sms-should-be-free/ ). The only exception I can think of is if you are paying for a certain number of text messages through your plan (i.e. AT&T offers 200, 1500, and unlimited texting plans) - incoming messages are deducted from this number, though.
    - jonas_b 18y ago
      Wow, then I can understand Americans are keen on getting rid of SMS. Imagine being charged for every email you receive. That would screw up by budget at least.
      - RK 18y ago
        I even get a little mad when my friends send me SMS :) You can imagine how pissed off you'd be when you receive spam. My wife once received the same spammy message about 5 days in a row. I didn't think too much of it until we got the bill and each one of those was something like $2.99 a piece from some "premium SMS" service that she had not signed up for.
    - mikeyur 18y ago
      That is extremely stupid, to me anyways. The argument posed when other carriers tried to do it here is that the company was double charging for the service - which stopped a lot of carriers from even attempting to implement the incoming charge. Another thing that's crazy is the cost of your txting plans/packages. My mom and sister are on $25 plans here and get unlimited txting included for free.
tlrobinson 18y ago
I have seen SMS spam (though it's rare), and I think it's criminal that carriers can get away with charging the receiver for unsolicited SMS messages. There needs to be a way to opt out of these.

axod 18y ago

In what way is it a price fixing scam??? In the same way your electricity supply is a price fixing scam? Please don't believe the idiotic articles claiming that sending an SMS costs the mobile companies nothing...

bprater 18y ago
If all the phone carriers get together and say, "Hey Bob -- if you keep the price of your SMS at 10c, I promise to keep the price of SMS at 10c. We agree to not compete on SMS pricing. That way we can make lots of moola on something that costs both of us nothing."
- titocosta 18y ago
  that's why they raised it from 10 to 20 cents over the last few years
- russell 18y ago
  That's collusion and it's illegal. They just watch each other. If verizon doesn't move, Sprint doesn't either. That's also the way airlines match prices.
russell 18y ago
Some plans charge 1000 times as much per byte for text as for voice. I would say the difference between zero and non-zero is just noise.
omouse 18y ago
SMS costs the carriers virtually nothing. Not exactly $0 but very close, something like $0.000000000000001.
- eru 18y ago
  They do not contribute to variable costs. But in theory the money made from SMS could be used to cross-subsidize calls.
18y ago

twopoint718 18y ago

At least one Senator (Herb Kohl D-WI), is actively looking into this. He's got some pull as the chair of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/business/28digi.html http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/business/28digi.html