SMS ripoff

[PoorManQ45]

http://gizmodo.com/5832245/atts-new-tex ... y-10000000

"AT&T’s New Text Plan Overcharges You by 10,000,000 Percent
AT&T's killing their $10/1,000 text plan. Now, you'll have to choose between $20 for unlimited, or forgo a plan and pay $0.20 per message. AT&T calls this "streamlining." We call it what it is: an outrageous, gigantic scam.


It's important to note, before considering anything SMS, that text messages are essentially free. Not for you, of course, but for companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint. Unlike uploading a video to YouTube from your phone, which eats mobile bandwidth, text messages ride the same itsy bitsy communication channel your handset uses the check in with local towers to make sure it's turned on. Each text hitches a ride on an infinitesimally small data packet, chugging through traffic that would've been there anyway. For AT&T, it's basically a freebie—160 bytes of data. A trifle. Compared to the rest of what they're transmitting, AT&T's texts are like amoebas on the back of a tyrannosaurus.

For you, it's quite the opposite. For you, text messages cost money. A lot of money. How much money? Well that all depends. Starting next week, the only texting options for new AT&T subscribers will be a $20/month unlimited buffet, or paying per text, which is insane.

And here's why it's insane. Absolutely, skull-implodingly, village-razingly, jump-out-your-window-into-spikes insane.

AT&T offers a 2 gigabyte per month phone data plan for $25. By breaking this down, we can find out how much they think each text's worth of data costs. And according to this value, when you're using the same amount of data to send a text without a messaging plan, they're charging you 100,000 times more. Yes. Blink a few times and read that again. When AT&T calls data texting, it costs 100,000 times more than when it's in the form of photos, music, email, or anything else. They're ripping you off with the force of a nuclear bomb.

Here's how it breaks down:

AT&T charges $25 for 2 gigabytes of mobile data, which states how much they think their bits and bytes are worth. That comes out to 80 megabytes per dollar. 80 megabytes will get you 500,000 text messages—assuming you're writing the largest possible message, which you're often not (i.e. "Hey" "Nothing" "lol").

Now divide that dollar by the 500,000 potential texts. That comes out to $0.000002 per text—two ten thousandths of a dollar. A very, very, very small amount of money.

Now, let's say you send 5,000 texts a month. That's a large, though wholly realistic number. Multiply that by the above worthless cost per text, and you've got—hold onto your wallet!—$0.01. A penny for five thousand texts, according to how much AT&T says its data is worth in a data plan.

But outside of the data plan? Oh boy! Things get very different very fast. And by very different, I mean inordinately overpriced. Those same 5,000 texts, at a rate of $0.20 per message, will cost you $1,000. Not a penny—a grand. Two very different prices for literally the exact same thing.

They're not alone—every other carrier charges similarly grotesque rates for texting without an SMS plan. The difference here is that AT&T's taken away new customers' option to spend less, whereas carriers like Verizon still offer tiered texting plans for varying budgets. (Though don't be surprised if they follow suit—AT&T's been leading the industry in its data/pricing, often in the worst ways.)

When the blue curtain's pulled back and you see the enormous money tree they're shaking, there's nothing to conclude but outrage. Texting messages are as costly to AT&T as blowing bubbles, but they sell them to you like they're vomiting molten gold.

"

[Jesda]

Yes, everything costs money, even things that cost very little to produce.

[PoorManQ45]

Yes, everything costs money, even things that cost very little to produce.

That's the thing. Without knowing the exact structure of their network, from just the article it sounds like they actually aren't providing anything that doesn't exist even without the usage of SMS

[alms24sebring]

Wow I didnt know that data was that cheap. I mean I understand having to make money to produce more satallites and for the service, but dam. My bill for a Droid and an old Rogue is now $182 on a unlimited text and 1400 mins family plan this month!! Rediculous. More and more people are moving to prepaid phones for a reason I guess..

[Jesda]

Yes, everything costs money, even things that cost very little to produce.

That's the thing. Without knowing the exact structure of their network, from just the article it sounds like they actually aren't providing anything that doesn't exist even without the usage of SMS

I'm trying to think about why someone buying a new phone and a new carrier would willingly choose AT&T, and honestly, I'm at a loss.

[alms24sebring]

Yeah.. or Sprint with their epically horrible service

[Ace2cool]

Maybe where you live. Sprint has always had amazing service wherever I am. I'm usually the only one to have service on base.

And I know you're not talking about customer service, because Sprint is pretty much top of the food chain in that aspect.

[PoorManQ45]

That's the thing. Without knowing the exact structure of their network, from just the article it sounds like they actually aren't providing anything that doesn't exist even without the usage of SMS

I'm trying to think about why someone buying a new phone and a new carrier would willingly choose AT&T, and honestly, I'm at a loss.

This issue isn't exclusive to ATT though.

Check out the prices for texting from all the carriers!

[JoeCool6972]

AT&T sucks a**. Had them for years, so glad I switched to Sprint.

[BigTDogg (MA)]

Maybe where you live. Sprint has always had amazing service wherever I am. I'm usually the only one to have service on base.

And I know you're not talking about customer service, because Sprint is pretty much top of the food chain in that aspect.

I've had calls dropped while on I-90 with Sprint.

Verizon service is 10x better, but I have to donate sperm monthly just to afford the bill!




Yes, that's my forearm...

[Jesda]

Check out the prices for texting from all the carriers!

Sprint has always been pretty relaxed on SMS fees. As the underdog, they have to emphasize price to win people over.

[Dattebayo]

Verizon service is 10x better, but I have to donate sperm monthly just to afford the bill!

My company uses data air-cards a lot, so we have to deal with many kinds of cell companies. If you are in South America, I say avoid Movistar like the plague. The network infrastructure is laughable, and the customer service would make a chihuahua meow.

In the US, Verizon has more instances of service or no service, AT&T seems to have many different levels of connectivity. T-mobile service is limited, Sprint seems to work just about everywhere.

If you want to talk customer service, AT&T has treated my company the best of any other cell provider. Verizon is controlled by computers who aim to take over the world, so we keep them in our back pocket in case of no AT&T service. Sprint is like the supermodel of the cell world, it gives the worst run around I've ever had, and you need to spend thousands of dollars a year on them in order to get their attention. T mobile is fine on the customer service end, but they keep telling us how "affordable" they are even tho they keep charging more than the other companies.

[Dittoz7]

I'm trying to think about why someone buying a new phone and a new carrier would willingly choose AT&T, and honestly, I'm at a loss.

iretards

[Jesda]

I'm trying to think about why someone buying a new phone and a new carrier would willingly choose AT&T, and honestly, I'm at a loss.

iretards

Verizon

[MinisterofDOOM]

I don't understand why, in a time when 35% of the adult US population owns a smartphone (almost all of which require some kind of data plan if purchased through subsidy, and which are pointless without data anyway), carrier-based SMS is still popular enough to support this kind of pricing. Supply/demand, etc. There are tons of data-based free SMS options, so there's no reason for 1/3 of mobile subscribers to pay their carrier for a text plan.

[PoorManQ45]

I don't understand why, in a time when 35% of the adult US population owns a smartphone (almost all of which require some kind of data plan if purchased through subsidy, and which are pointless without data anyway), carrier-based SMS is still popular enough to support this kind of pricing. Supply/demand, etc. There are tons of data-based free SMS options, so there's no reason for 1/3 of mobile subscribers to pay their carrier for a text plan.

I was just reading an article about this.

It claimed that the reason for such high pricing is due to the current option to use other messaging services that utilize the data plan.

The problem with that argument is that the pricing has always been this high!

[shigun]

I agree, it's a complete ripoff, but the main speculation as to why they are doing such is because of iOS 5. It will introduce the iMessage service, which will replace SMS for iPhone to iPhone messaging (assuming they are both iOS 5 devices)