If you need to send SMS commercially they’re still generally priced at $0.03 each. I just had to deal with that because some users will apparently only turn on MFA if they can get the codes by txt.
Comment on Why are SMS messages so expensive?
rdyoung@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Where are you that you’re paying anything extra for sms? They used to be expensive because they could charge that much, now that are included in even the cheapest prepaid plans. If you are paying per message, that’s a you problem and you need to find another wireless provider.
Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 6 months ago
rdyoung@lemmy.world 6 months ago
OP didn’t clarify personal versus business. I’m aware of how much businesses get ripped off, I’ve looked into using the short codes for promoting my own business and shit is not cheap.
RobotToaster@mander.xyz 6 months ago
I considered setting up a raspberry pi with a 4g hat because of that.
Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 6 months ago
In the wild west days of the internet we used to connect consumer CDMA phones straight to our servers. You’d walk around your COLO and peak in racks of crazy expensive, rack mounted hardware with the world’s cheapest flip phone sitting on top.
The telcos caught wind and started terminating accounts. It was a great way to have a server tell you it fell off the network.
Worx@lemmynsfw.com 6 months ago
I spend about £15 per year on my phone. No way that could be beaten with a contract. I’m still annoyed at how expensive it is though
rdyoung@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Where did I say anything about a contract? I spend $1800/year for 4 lines, 3 personal and 1 work line. In the USA at least, prepaid beats postpaid/contract every day of the year. Every time I price moving all 4 lines over to postpaid to get easier access to esims, a little leeway on payment, etc, I always end up staying with prepaid.
Worx@lemmynsfw.com 6 months ago
I assumed it was the same thing. In the UK, all our phones are prepaid. You can either get a contract for a set monthly amount, or you buy credit which you spend over time (which presumably is what you mean by prepaid).
While we’re on the subject, is it true that you have to pay to receive calls in the US?
SolOrion@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
is it true that you have to pay to receive calls in the US?
I’m not certain what you’re asking. Are you asking if someone can call you and make you pay for it? Not that I’ve ever seen. With the exception of jails/prisons- inmates can collect call you. I imagine it’s a thing in other contexts, but not that I’ve ever experienced.
Generally, ime pretty much everyone has unlimited calls and texts these days. It’s pretty dirt cheap. Data is much more expensive and limited.
xmunk@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
There is a large contrast in this regard between NA and Europe. In Europe data is dirt cheap and wifi is usually available anyways so messaging over whatsapp/signal/whatever is much more common than trying to use SMS. In America public wifi is extremely rare and businesses are so spread out that coverage is limited… people also tend to use iPhones which default you into their shitty iMessage - SMS was also traditionally much cheaper so it’s more of a habit in NA.
rdyoung@lemmy.world 6 months ago
None of that is actually true as a contrast.
There are tons of free wifi networks from hotels to restaurants, etc.
None of what you are saying makes any sense.
xmunk@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
In Barcelona, I can go for a ten mile walk and constantly be in range of 3+ open wifi networks. In America it’s not uncommon to be out of range of wifi when standing on the curb closest to a restaurant or hotel… additionally American wifi networks are much less likely to be open and municipal services are less well funded.
Ecksell@lemmy.one 6 months ago
All of that is true, and makes perfect sense. It all depends on where you live, of course.
Maeve@kbin.social 6 months ago
Not everyone lives in densely packed urban areas.
rdyoung@lemmy.world 6 months ago
That’s hilarious. I currently live where I can see like 3 of my neighbors.
SolOrion@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
There’s literally like four places with free wifi in my entire town. Most of the restaurants don’t have it, and we only have two hotels… neither of which has properly free wifi- you have to get a room to use it.
rdyoung@lemmy.world 6 months ago
If you want to get technical, my town (really a village) has zero free wifi networks. It’s the larger city to my south that has all of the restaurants, hotels, retail, etc with free wifi.
disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world 6 months ago
GSM SMS protocol is the same on both continents. The reason SMS became free in the US with 4G, was an attempt to level competition for cell phones that weren’t iPhone, since the iMessage protocol uses data transmission rather than SMS. Now Android uses RCS, which is also data transmission, and the only use for SMS is Android to iPhone texting and dumb phones.