Is there any reason, beyond corporate greed, for SMS messages to cost so much?

If I get it right, an SMS message is just a short string of data, no different from a message we send in a messenger. If so, then what makes them so expensive? If we’d take Internet plans and consider how much data an SMS takes, we should pay tiny fraction of a cent for each message; why doesn’t that happen?

  • DBT
    -125 months ago
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    Who were you texting in 1999? Cell phones weren’t very common then.

    • wildbus8979
      155 months ago
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      5 months ago
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      Probably me on my Nokia 5110 with the slick custom faceplate, extra thiccccc battery, and analog external module.

      • Apepollo11
        75 months ago
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        5 months ago
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        I always wanted a Nokia - I know it was a cliche, but I was amazed at how indestructible they were. Even when they did actually break apart, you could just pick up the bits, clip them back together, and it would just work again - with no visible damage.

        Also, SNAKE

        • wildbus8979
          25 months ago
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          Obviously I updated my 5110 to a 3310 only a few years later!

          But to be honest I think my all time favorite will always stay my Ericsson T610/630 I kept that thing for over seven years. It rocked. Even had Bluetooth which I used to connect with my X10 home automation.

    • Apepollo11
      125 months ago
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      I started university in 1999. Pretty much everyone had a mobile phone there. They were fairly new, granted, but they were pretty ubiquitous.

    • Maeve
      45 months ago
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      I was late getting a flip phone, but I did in 02. Everyone else I knew already had mobile devices.

      • DBT
        15 months ago
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        By 02 texting & cellphones were somewhat common. In 1999 people were only really using cellphones to make calls and they were less common than pagers.

        • Maeve
          15 months ago
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          It’s funny. My general region uses text but really only phones if it’s really important right this moment. We do have the phone conversations when it’s too much to text though.

      • DBT
        05 months ago
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        Please elaborate on how wrong you are. There were still pay phones everywhere in 99 because cell phones weren’t common yet.