chairman of the Senate antitrust subcommittee
was curious about the doubling of prices for
text messages charged by the major American carriers from 2005 to 2008
All four of the major carriers decided during the last three years to increase the pay-per-use price for messages to 20 cents from 10 cents
2.5 trillion sent messages this year
is up 32 percent from 2007
3.3 trillion messages to be sent in 2009
20 class-action lawsuits have been filed around the country
alleging price-fixing for text messaging services
T-Mobile and AT&T contended
pay-per-use price of a message is
unimportant because most messaging is done as part of a package
text messages are not just tiny; they are also free riders, tucked into
space reserved for operation of the wireless network
The channel uses space whether or not a text message is inserted
Customers with unlimited plans
might think they’re getting the best out of the arrangement
can provide unlimited quantities
clipped from: www.nytimes.com