Comments on: The rising cost of texting

Text message prices have risen as quickly as gas prices at the pump over the past two years. What gives?

[AndresBQ]

In Costa Rica, every single sms costs you just $0.003. No, I'm not kidding...

[Maggie Reardon]

Texting in the Philippines is also very cheap. In fact, it's much cheaper to send a text there than it is to talk. Check out this story I did last December: http://news.cnet.com/This-revolution-will-be-text-messaged/2100-1039_3-6222963.html?tag=item

[ogman]

I only text with other Blackberry users, using the free Blackberry messenger.

[AndrewRich]

I have a $15/month unlimited data and SMS plan from Sprint that they haven't offered in years (first got it with the HandSpring "Wireless Web Digital Link" in 2002 and kept it ever since) and I *use* a lot of data and SMS now that I have the HTC Mogul with EVDOa. Not only can I not add this plan to my wife's phone, I've been told that if I ever make any changes to my plan I'll lose this unlimited data and SMS.

[moav]

It's called stock market GREED... we all want a piece of the pie and demand the board to increase profits not realizing we are destroying our economy to line our pockets with a few shiny new pennies... weehooo

[chash360]

Absolutely correct, its the board of directors, looking to squeeze every penny out of the business regardless of what that does to a business. I see it all the time, working in corperate America, profit is not good enough for them, they want you to grow that profit every quarter. The BOD's will force you (your business) to make whatever changes to line their own pockets and the stockholders (mostly day traders now), even if it hurts or hinders your business, or ability to do future business. Most of the market right now is people just waiting for the stock to go up so they can sell, they are not investors. Second they measure a business and the executives against its stock performance rather than business performance. Record sales, revenue and profit quarter after quarter these days does not mean the stock price will go up. The best bet for a company to remain successful in its business, is to remain private, so that some BOD that has no stake or loyalty to the actual business, does not screw it up for their own greed. Incorperating is the first step to handing your business over to a bunch of greedy wall street types that could not care less about your business, employees, customers, products or services. If you don't make them more and more money at the growth rate they want, they will liquidate you and your assets, and leave you, your employees and your customers with nothing.

[hawkeyeaz1]

What is really annoying is they charge you for spam messages and messages you never sent/received, and when you call them on it, they say they can't do anything. When you insist, they do a 'one time courtesy' removeal of the charge. Dunno about beyond that though. But I say it is a legal issue waiting to be addressed if they keep it up.

[cbibbs]

Another BB user here, so I'm not paying $0.20 per message, but I do pay $20/month for a constant feed of e-mail.

It allows me to avoid carrying a laptop and still respond to priority customer issues.

[l-case]

90% of texting is like 90% of cell calls...junk

[CagedAnimal]

My family has pretty much just stopped using SMS as a result of the price hikes. They used to get about $5 SMS per line, now they get next to nothing. There is no reason for the price hike aside from corporate greed, and we will avoid playing that game.

[Equipment_Rack_Monkey]

Text message pricing is hightway robbery. The total cost of the equipment needed to process every text message in the US for every phone company is on the order of about $600,000. Modern phones send the messages along with packets to the stations know your phone is still on line and the amount of air time per message is tiny fraction of a second. Using a typical state utilities commission rate schedule formula from 20 years ago a text message should cost on the order of $.001 each or less.

[manualfunky]

looks as tho american pricing is finally coming into line with our part of the world... 20cents to text in New Zealand and 25 cents here in Australia. obviously, your $ isnt worth as much as it was a few years ago compared to the NZ and Aus $ so the prices are going up in order to bring profits into line...

$1 US = $1.05 AUD

[manualfunky]

seriously, you guys still only pay the equivalent of $1.05 Aus per litre ($4 US per Gallon) for petrol whereas the prices here are $1.70+ Aus per litre ($6.48 US per gallon)

you've all got it pretty damn sweet when you actually take everything into consideration....
I just paid $700 here in Oz for a bike that retails for $300 in the states!

[SeizeCTRL]

I have unlimited EVERYTHING on my Samsung Instinct. No need to worry about how many texts or minutes I have used.

But since there's not a nice little Apple logo stamped on the back, you guys all but avoid the Instinct. Makes me wonder if you guys get paid by Apple for each time you mention the iPhone.

Seriously, $129 for the Instinct, $99 for the Simply Everything Plan which is everything unlimited, how can you guys not talk about the Instinct?

[KCFalcon59]

The cost of text messaging is getting out of hand. It seems me that text messaging is being marketed to kids more than any other demographic. If it was cereal, Chuckie Schumer would be all over it. The ocsts are unnecessary. It price gouging at its purest form.

[tomtomt]

Last Oct I tried to get Voicestream (oh yeah, T-Mobile) to stop text messaging to my phone. I had been a customer for 8 years and had a cell only household. No land line. I was told that it was impossible. They were going to charge me .15 or .20 per message even if I didn't want the message or know the person sending the message. So I told them they just lost a customer. I now have VOIP with Comcast since they are the only broadband I can get. I also took my phone number away from T-Mobile. I also don't have a cell phone and really don't miss it. Moral of the story. If you don't want to pay for SMS, don't. KILL YOUR CELL PHONE!!!!

[snapelicious]

I believe that Ms. Reardon is unaware of the meaning of the word "exurbanite."

[Sukki007]

I don't text and I don't understand it: why on earth would anyone want to spend all that time typing out a text message when a call is so much quicker and more efficient? I watch my daughter, who's 24, with head bowed and fingers flying, and I'm just baffled, as well as p.o.'d by the insanity of it all. I suppose there are times when it's more convenient, e.g., if you're sitting in a doctor's waiting room and the staff doesn't want to hear you using your cell phone, but jeez, what did we do before we all had the ability to connect with someone worldwide? I guess it all boils down to the Instant Gratification that today's younger generation demands. Probably 99.9% of all text messages are just mindless garbage, a means of entertainment. Call me an old curmudgeon, but the time would be better spent reading a book or learning how to write properly.

Having said that, there is one case, and one only, where I have found texting to be an invaluable resource, and that is when I am out of the country. No longer do I have to find a public phone, buy a foreign phone card or tokens, or use my cell phone to call home to let family know I've arrived safely. A cell phone call to the U.S. from Europe can be outrageously expensive. A text message to the same number costs fifty cents. At that rate, I can communicate regularly. When a text answer comes in, I still have to pay the fifty cents, but I believe that the person sending the message from the U.S. is not paying a premium, since it's going to a local number. Now I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, when my carrier, AT&T, realizes that this is another opportunity to jack up that rate and gouge their customers even more.

[shoffmueller]

Young folks text instead of calling for a simple reason - they like the concept of asynchronous communication. When they receive a text, they can continue with whatever they were doing and respond when they want. Text-ing also eliminates the salutation, smalltalk, and long goodbyes of a phone call.

[thelemurking]

yes but many of them do this while driving which is so beyond retarded that I don't feel sorry at all when they end up crashing into barricade then going head first through the windshield with their thumbs still attached to their cellphone.

[quietmind]

Ever try texting from outside USA borders? I spend an average of 6+ months out of the States each year, and have been trying to text more than talk, to save money. Even with the best available AT&T overseas plan I still pay 50 cents per text. Its put a halt to casual communication to say the least.. The service providers have certainly have got us by the vowels.. don't they..

[rubenjmiranda]

If people stop texting they will lower their prices. The problem is that there is no unity among users, no willingness to take a stand. I know it sounds silly in the context of something like SMS, but it's the truth. If they raise rates then you should cancel your text plan.

[insightman]

As a 58-year old troglodyte still without a mobile phone, I laugh at people who believe their lives are truly better because they can text. It gets even funnier when people have to pay to receive spam text!