Chair of antitrust Senate subcommittee wants to know why text messages cost so much money
- September 10th, 2008
- 3 Comments
It turns out we’re not the only ones concerned about the (unnecessary?) rise in the cost of sending a text message. This time, though, it’s someone who may actually be able to do something about it.
Sen. Herb Kohl, who’s the chair of the Senate antitrust subcommittee, recently sent a letter to several cellphone companies (AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mo) asking them to explain why it costs so much to send a simple text message. He wondered aloud why these companies all decided to raise SMS rates at that same time to essentially the same price, calling it “inconsistent” with the type of competition seen in the rest of the cellphone market.
I don’t think we should expect EU-like prices caps, but at least someone is calling out these companies. There’s no reason that a simple text message should cost 20 cents.
benjaminx (Who am I?)
2 months ago
Bout time.
Denise (Who am I?)
2 months ago
They should look at the cost for cell plans as well the the cost of texting. I have two choices of carrier if I actually want to get a signal where I live. As recently as 1 year ago, I only had 1 choice for a carrier and still get a good signal. Both companies charge $40 a month before all their extra fees for their cheapest plan (which has more minutes than I want or need) and if I want text it is another $5 a month for 250 text messages (which would essentially be unlimited for me) or pay their .20 per text. However, I can’t turn off text messaging. I tried. I don’t use it, but my friends sometimes send them to me even though I’ve asked them not to because I have to pay. I told them that back when I was being charged .10 per message because it was too much. I have no way to refuse incoming text or picture messages. This is a scam!
hario (Who am I?)
2 months ago
the only reason they should look is if there is collusion between the carriers. the opposite view is why shouldn’t they charge even higher rates for text/calling plans as long as people are buying them? people don’t have to get a high cell plan or use messaging — they’re choosing to do so. instead of forcing lower rates, people should STOP using the services all together if they think the prices are high.
my view is that pushing pay-per-use txt rates are encouraging unlimited/bundled texting plans adoption.
btw - you can opt NOT to receive txt messages. i did it by calling my carrier and asking to remove ALL txt messaging even PPU.