7314% Mark-up On SMS Messages!
Posted by David on Mar 28, 2007 in Mobile Marketing, Mobile Prices, SMS / Text
Before we plow into this amazing matter of a huge mark-up on sms messages it is worth pointing out that this number is true when compared to data charges. Right then, lets stomp on…
Link: The Consumerist Says This:
Verizon and other cellphone companies mark up the cost of text messages by at least 7314% when compared to their rates for data transfer services.
Verizon’s max text message size is 160 characters. At 7 bits per character, that’s 1120 bits or 140 bytes. Without a text messaging plan, those 140 bytes run you $.15 (fifteen cents), according to Verizon’s website.
Compare that to the rate for data transfer (like when you would use your cellphone as modem). That rate is $.015 (one point five cents) every 1024 bytes.
That’s $.015 per data kilobyte versus $1.09 per text message kilobyte. In other words, a markup of 7314%. Other cellphone companies charge comparable rates.
Bytes are bytes. What makes a text-message byte so much more valuable than a straightup data byte?
Verizon didn’t return our requests for comment
Now, this is going to be a shock to a consumer… at least it would be if they had any idea about such things. Alas they are blind to most of it, including the excessive data charges that really should have vanished a year or so ago now. All the time the consumer keeps paying, the networks will keep charging.
This may not come as much of a suprise to people inside the industry as 9 times out of 10 they are making these amazing profits. We would expect them to stay quiet until questioned by the media and public en-mass. What do you think?
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