Text Messaging Costs

When is the last time you sent or received a text message? For many this probably less than an hour ago. Text messaging is something that has quickly become second nature to cell phone users. However, how much do you really know about text messaging? In 2008 about 2.5 trillion text messages were sent. Text messaging takes up no extra resources for the phone company and essentially piggybacks on what they already offer. For a text message to be sent it cost the phone company about 1/3 of a cent. In turn if texting is not part of your cell phone plan they charge anywhere between 10-20 cents for 160 character text. If texting is included in your plan it costs anywhere from $10-15 per month. Without doing the exact math it is still very easy to see phone companies are making a killing off of text messaging.

Nearly all of this information was news to me. I had never given much thought to how much it actually costs phone companies to incorporate texting into the services they offer. Despite this I had heard numerous stories of outrageous cell phones bills do to people sending extreme amounts of text messages. This made me wonder about how texting came about how it was marketed in such a way that actual costs were hidden from the public. For me I think it was the pricing aspect that blinded people. I know for me personally with my first cell phone plan it did not include texting so nearly every month I was cautious of how much I was sending out, despite this I almost always went over the amount that was in the price range I wanted to spend on texting. So when my phone company offered unlimited texting for only $10 a month as part of me plan when I was almost always paying double or triple this, it was an easy decision. I think the act of charging for a single text or instead offering a set amount for an unlimited amount of texts is what distracted people. People became blinded by the deal the thought they were receiving instead of concentrating on the killing phone companies were making.

Multiple companies offer deals for buying in bundle or signing up for contracts with them, can you provide examples of any? Do you think phone companies are taking advantage of their customers? What marketing techniques do you think cell phone companies used to make texts become so popular, and what techniques could they use to possibly make even more money from this service?