Mobile Messaging 2.0 » You might be paying $1,000 per MB for SMS: a hosted discussion on mobile messaging, devices, and user practices and trends

You might be paying $1,000 per MB for SMS

by Debi Jones

July 27, 2007 at 3:18 am · Filed under Mobile messaging 2.0, SMS, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, ATT

Many mobile prepaid service plans in the US still require a per SMS charge. Most charge for sending and receiving and include a premium charge for sending to other countries. Have you ever sat down to figure out how much you’re really paying for this frictionless and convenient mode of communication?

The Plans

$.15 send & $.15 receive - domestic
$.20 send & $.15 receive - international
$4.99 200 message bundle
$19.99 unlimited messages

$.10 send & $.10 receive domestic to other Verizon phone
$.15 send & $.15 receive domestic to other carrier
$.25 send & $.10 receive international
no bundles

$.10 send & $0 receive
$5.00 unlimited messages

$.05 send & $.05 receive
$4.99 200 message bundle
$1.99 50 message bundle

A Bit of Math

SMS max message size is 160 characters. One character equals one byte. There are 1024 x 1024 or 1,048,576 bytes in 1MB.

So there are 1,048,576 / 160 or 6553.6 SMS messages in 1MB of data.

NOTE: this assumes you use all the characters available in every message which none of us do. Some examples of really short messages show up on my phone frequently like “Ready?” “You home?” “Let’s go.” For illustration purposes and easier math, I’m assuming all 160 characters per message are used.

Calculating message traffic per MB these prepaid subscribers are paying the following rates.

Fun Facts

$983.04 per 1MB of message data - domestic
$1310.72 per 1MB of message data - international
$163.84 per 1MB of message data - 200 message bundle

Note the unlimited amount depends on how many are sent, but for illustration lets’s say you sent and received 1000 SMS. You’re per MB charge is $131.07.

$655.36 per 1MB of message data - domestic to other Verizon phone
$983.04 per 1MB of message data - domestic to other carrier
$1638.40 per 1MB of message data - international
no bundles

$655.36 per 1MB of message data
$32.77 per 1MB of message data (assuming 1000 messages per month)

$327.68 per 1MB of message data
$163.84 per 1MB of message data - 200 message bundle
$260.83 per 1MB of message data - 50 message bundle

No wonder the Internet is jealous of mobile data! Oh! and Happy 15th to SMS.

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6 Comments »

SMS to be Killed By Mobile E-Mail - Report | Gadget & Tech News wrote @ July 27th, 2007 at 4:41 pm

[…] messaging” will be KILLED OFF. Which is good, when you consider that citizens are paying $1,000 PER MEGABYTE for […]

Gadget & Tech News » SMS to be Killed By Mobile E-Mail - Report wrote @ July 27th, 2007 at 5:04 pm

[…] messaging” will be KILLED OFF. Which is good, when you consider that people are paying $1,000 PER MEGABYTE for […]

SMS to be Killed By Mobile E-Mail - Report | Latest iPhone, Mac, Apple news wrote @ July 27th, 2007 at 6:08 pm

[…] messaging” will be KILLED OFF. Which is good, when you consider that humans are paying $1,000 PER MEGABYTE for […]

Helen Keegan wrote @ July 29th, 2007 at 11:32 am

Except that customers aren’t bothered about the costs, it’s about ubiquity and convenience and the alternative messaging solutions right now are complementary rather than replacements. And still limited to those in the know. People aren’t paying for the data, they’re paying for the value added service - i.e. the ability to send and receive a message quickly and to anyone who has a mobile phone - a big difference. We could do well to learn from that in the industry.

Debi Jones wrote @ July 29th, 2007 at 1:30 pm

Subscribers “not being bothered” versus not being aware are very different. I wonder how many people have gone through an exercise like this one to determine comparative costs.

Why do you suggest that mobile email or even IM, both alternatives to SMS, are limited to those in the know? One word - Gmail. Another word - Blackberry. And please could you clarifiy, who are “those in the know?”

It’s much easier to understand why SMS accounts for such large percentages of carrier/operator revenues when the profit margin is ludicrous…$600 - $900 per MB of data, any kind of data, is excessive. I don’t believe the service should be free, but at these rates I would expect allot more value in the service than exists today.

phil wrote @ August 8th, 2007 at 8:02 pm

The answer is a push mail app like morange or just use a black berry. its the only way to go I send e mail to non berry phones all the time, and as a casual text user it never bothers me to pay a few cents
To get a message through when
Voice isn’t an option

………………………..

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