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FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Who pays for Text Msgs?

If you have a mobile phone and have a text messaging service, either as part of a plan, or as an add-on fee for so many msgs, or pay per msg, you are paying for both outgoing and incoming msgs.

Host generated SMS msgs have traditionally paid no fees to any mobile service provider. So ESPN or other companies sending alert msgs generally paid no fees. This broke the mobile providers usual ability to charge twice for the same text msg - once by the sender and once by the receiver. Obviously they don't like this and always maintained their right to reject text msgs coming from host computers. That, however, has had a good side effect, because it has cut way down on spam text msgs coming to your cellphone.

So, this may be a case where everyone should be careful about getting what you wish for. If some FCC rule or other regulatory action takes away the ability of cell service providers to block host generated messages without charging a fee or even declining to accept host based SMS altogether, then that may open the door for a flood of unsolicited host based spam msgs hitting our cellphones.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

pnh102

Premium Member

said by FFH5:

If you have a mobile phone and have a text messaging service, either as part of a plan, or as an add-on fee for so many msgs, or pay per msg, you are paying for both outgoing and incoming msgs.

In this day and age no one should pay for text messaging. Google Voice FTW.
SunnyD
join:2009-03-20
Madison, AL

SunnyD

Member

said by pnh102:

In this day and age no one should pay for text messaging. Google Voice FTW.

And what of those of us that don't have data plans because they're ridiculously overpriced as well, but only voice/text?

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

pnh102

Premium Member

said by SunnyD:

And what of those of us that don't have data plans because they're ridiculously overpriced as well, but only voice/text?

You're stuck I guess. When I had a personal cell phone (not a smart phone) I simply blocked all messaging because I was too cheap to pay for a texting plan.

I bought my wife a Droid X a few months ago and I am paying for the required data plan. She loves to text, but I refused to pay extra for texting, so GV was the logical solution to that problem.
matrix3D
join:2006-09-27
Middletown, CT

matrix3D

Member

I'm with you. The one person I really exchange txt messages with has an iPhone 4 (with required data plan) and he refuses to start using AIM, MSN, Yahoo, Skype, etc. and uses ONLY txt messages. If it weren't for him, I could be saving an additional $10 a month right now...

But yeah, I hate sending txt messages simply because I'm paying the company for, literally, next to nothing.