Text Messaging.. - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

kermitology · 01-21-2009, 09:27 AM

Why do mobile providers charge so damn much for text messaging?

It's got to be the most blatant ripoff to consumers today. 25 CENTS FOR A TINY BIT OF DATA!!!

Locke · 01-21-2009, 09:29 AM

Because they can. Time for a revolution people, lets get an angry mob at the Telus building. I'll bring the torches, whos bringing the pitchforks?

I'd love to see if that actually worked.

nickerjones · 01-21-2009, 09:32 AM

25 cents a text??? WOW do they have an unlimited plan at telus??? I know i pay 20 bucks a month for unlimited at At&t here in the states

4X4 · 01-21-2009, 09:34 AM

Yeah, dude... Get on an unlimited plan. I love text, as I already clarified in the other text thread. It's well worth it to get the unlimited plan. It's like $15 or $20 at Rogers.

ken0042 · 01-21-2009, 09:36 AM

I guess I don't see it that way. It's 25¢ for you to use their infastructure that is in place without committing to supporting that infastructure long term. For me I pay $5 for text and Internet; so basically once I saw that I was going to be using texting on a regular basis I went with their value option.

The Ditch · 01-21-2009, 09:37 AM

Canadian cell phone companies rip off the Canadian consumers so bad, I think they are falsely keeping prices inflated. Look at what you can get in the States, unlimited everything for 99 bucks a month, I get really heated about this issue for some reason.

Daradon · 01-21-2009, 09:38 AM

Just get an unlimited. It's often just 10 extra bucks with other plans.

The reason Canadian cell phone companies charge so much compared to Europe is because there is so much network to cover such a large area with so few people.

Even the U.S. has 9 times the people in a slightly smaller area.

Just one con of living in Canada. But look at it this way. We get to enjoy all this wide open space and nature. Small price to pay for how lucky we are.

STeeLy · 01-21-2009, 09:40 AM

wow... I pay $25/month for a plan and it includes unlimited Text Messaging... I'm with Fido.

fredr123 · 01-21-2009, 09:43 AM

http://www.physorg.com/news129793047.html

Take it with a grain of salt, but this article claims that texting charges are four times more expensive than receiving scientific data from space.

Pagal4321 · 01-21-2009, 09:44 AM

Apparently text messaging costs carriers $0.00, or so I heard yesterday.

I'll be getting the unlimited plan from Rogers when I sign my new deal today.

Barnes · 01-21-2009, 09:57 AM

^^Yup. Whether or not the network is sending or receiving texts, the network is sending the exact same thing. Text messages piggyback on signals that are sent anyways.

F'ing s.

.25/144kb=0.00174cents/kb

1024x1024x0.00174= $1,820.43 per mb of text messaging.

Titan · 01-21-2009, 10:05 AM

But where did that network and infrastructure come from? Magic.

Not to defend the telecoms as I believe there is a special place in hell for them, but just because the end result does not add an additional cost, there ares so many overhead items that need to be paid for. Wires, towers, servers, r and d, handset subsidies and on and on and on.

There is a big picture involved. In the States they have so many more subscribers to spread the overhead around. The price we pay for being here.

The question would be why do we not let the us carriers sell here? Let's tap into their economies of scale and we all win right? There is the sovereignty thing but is that more important than cheap text?

Wow. That was a lot to say about something I don't actually care about. I must have had too much coffee this am.

worth · 01-21-2009, 10:07 AM

Yeah, with Fido there is no incoming text fee and with their $25 plan you get unlimited text and evenings and weekends.

Gobsgraham · 01-21-2009, 10:09 AM

No to derail the thread but does Blackberry Messenger charge as texts or is it just counted as data?

corporatejay · 01-21-2009, 10:15 AM

I'm pretty sure it's data and since 1 letter is 1byte it's wicked cheap...similar to the pin msging.

ken0042 · 01-21-2009, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Titan

But where did that network and infrastructure come from? Magic.

Agreed. To say that it should be free because the bandwidth is already there and would be used no matter what is like saying that airfares should be free or close to it, because the airlines are going that way way anyways.

Daradon · 01-21-2009, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Titan

The question would be why do we not let the us carriers sell here? Let's tap into their economies of scale and we all win right? There is the sovereignty thing but is that more important than cheap text?

Yup, that's about the only thing that would help, and those in charge of the decisions are slowly opening up the doors for more companies and competition. We might be able to spread it around a little more if a company like Verizon came up here. Although, it probably wouldn't be much of a discount because they're not going to increase the fees to their existing customers in the States just because they have expansion plans here. IE, their Canadian prices will still probably be higher than their US prices.

But there will be more companies. Virgin is already here. And the prices will go down. It just takes time.

MoneyGuy · 01-21-2009, 10:36 AM

HIt 'em where it hurts. Let's all stop text messaging until the rates come down. How many of you could do it? I could. Seriously. I send very few messages so it wouldn't be a hardship for me at all. I like talking with people.

kermitology · 01-21-2009, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Titan

But where did that network and infrastructure come from? Magic.

This is what bugs me though. I'd say that over the years of paying my BILL I've more than supported the network and infrastructure. It's the same thing with long distance charges now. Long distance means nothing in the digital age. Paying for it now days is a ripoff for the consumer.

With the data content in text messages and understanding how those systems would likely work for transmitting the data, the network and infrastructure costs are negligible for providers and I personally think that the excuse is way out of date now.

HOOT · 01-21-2009, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Ditch

Canadian cell phone companies rip off the Canadian consumers so bad, I think they are falsely keeping prices inflated. Look at what you can get in the States, unlimited everything for 99 bucks a month, I get really heated about this issue for some reason.

Most USA carriers charge $0.20 for incoming and outgoing text messages, Canadian carrers charge $0.15 for incoming and outgoing text messages.

Companies like Sprint may have these $99 unlimited packages but they also have more customers than the population of Canada, so I would say that helps keep costs down.

What's there to be heated about? A company making profits...damn them, when I signed up they told me it was a charity outfit