AT&T Raising Rates: SMS Messages to Cost $1,500 Per MB

Tue Jan 29, 2008 1:26PM EST

See Comments (13)

I text so infrequently that I don't bother with an unlimited text messaging plan, so I just suck it up and shell out the 15 cents a pop whenever I need to jot off a note. But now comes news that my carrier, AT&T, is raising its rates again: 20 cents for an SMS and 30 cents for an MMS (whether you send or receive), leaving some to wonder if we aren't getting really rooked in the deal.

Gthing.net did the math: Turns out, we are. At 140 bytes per SMS (that's the maximum allowed) and 20 cents per message, doing some simple division gives you a truly crazy $1,498 per megabyte. And of course, it's double that if somebody actually responds to your message.

I understand that messaging has its own overhead issues and that it probably ought to be more expensive than standard data transfers, but SMS is now undergoing nothing less than runaway inflation. Cingular/AT&T just raised its SMS rates from 10 to 15 cents only one year ago, and here they jump again. The above bandwidth analogy isn't perfect, but it's illustrative and instructive of just how badly consumers are getting gouged on what is a basic and inexpensive service for the carriers to operate.

Oh, and AT&T isn't alone: Sprint's SMS rate is already 20 cents a message. Verizon and T-Mobile are both now at 15 cents a pop. How long until 20 cents becomes the new industry standard? Humbug, I say!

LINK: The True Cost of SMS Messages 

Comments on AT&T Raising Rates: SMS Messages to Cost $1,500 Per MB

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  • 6 Posted by rayvr@att.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:31PM EDT Report Abuse

    Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't really see a NEED for text messaging, especially considering that it's an added cost. Boobus Americanus! Americans are such pushovers and fall into corporate layed traps constantly. When will they learn? Behind our backs our politicians have their hands way out there for corporate campaign funds and then these same politicians want your vote so they can do it all over again. Wake up America! Boobus Americanus (Americans are boobs!)

  • 7 Posted by rayvr@att.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:31PM EDT Report Abuse

    CricKet is way over priced considering their limited coverage areas --- and it's 39 cents a minute outside their coverage areas (roaming). They aren't in either San Francisco or Los Angeles AND you are paying for text messaging because you don't get text messaging free unless you have a more expensive plan!

  • 8 Posted by itaintbutter on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:25PM EDT Report Abuse

    Remember that the price of messages is not being increased from 15 to 20 cents. It is being increased from 30 to 40 cents. Just because the receiver of the message is paying half the cost, doesn't mean the cost isn't there. So at 20 cents to send and 20 cents to receive, we're talking about ~$3,000 per megabyte. The other fact is that most people don't fill up their text messages with a full 140 bytes, so they're paying something more like $6,000 per megabyte. But I could find no data on the average length of a text message.

  • 9 Posted by surfwiththewaves485 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:49PM EDT Report Abuse

    I use orange in the uk and for £10 i get 300 free text messages, and calls to anyone in the uk at 15p a minute, discounted calls to any other european nation. The thing is by giving me free texts it actually encourages me to call people because i use my phone a lot more.

  • 10 Posted by surfwiththewaves485 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:49PM EDT Report Abuse

    I use orange in the uk and for £10 i get 300 free text messages, and calls to anyone in the uk at 15p a minute, discounted calls to any other european nation. The thing is by giving me free texts it actually encourages me to call people because i use my phone a lot more.

  • 11 Posted by surfwiththewaves485 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:49PM EDT Report Abuse

    I use orange in the uk and for £10 i get 300 free text messages, and calls to anyone in the uk at 15p a minute, discounted calls to any other european nation. The thing is by giving me free texts it actually encourages me to call people because i use my phone a lot more.

  • 12 Posted by countrymouseus on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:30PM EDT Report Abuse

    I am really upset with AT&T anyway--I have been trying to get DSL for 3 years and cannot get anyone to give me a straight answer.Many of us in our community have tried and we are only a mile away from the last portal. Who do I call to get some action? Any suggestions?

  • 13 Posted by timless05 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:10PM EDT Report Abuse

    It looks like some old, pre-1984 "Ma Bell" tricks......at&t should be ashamed.

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