Verizon Wireless to charge companies for text messages

Verizon Wireless has announced that it will charge its partners 3 cents per text message sent to its subscribers, a move that has surprised a lot of people. For nearly five years, Verizon has not charged its partner companies that regularly send plenty of text messages, most of which are promotional in manner, to its millions of subscribers. Come November 1st, it will all change.

From now on, companies that have partnered with Verizon have to pay 3 cents for each text message they send through Verizon’s network. Companies offering text message alerts, interactive SMS polls, and SMS search will have to pay this amount from the first of November. However, Verizon has made it clear that this charge applies only to standard and premium programs and not to the free-to-end-user kind of programs.

While 3 cents per text message might not look that big an amount now, it could form a significant source of income for Verizon in the long run. This is the first time the company has reassessed its charges ever since it started partnering with other companies in 2003.

Now the important question is – will other carriers follow suit? After all, if a network carrier wants to charge for the text messages sent through its network, there is not much its partners can do. Especially, with SMS advertising becoming more popular than ever, they cannot afford to lose a highly targeted advertising medium. So, the companies will most probably try to come to terms with these changes in the industry. It will be interesting to see the reaction of other carriers in the coming days.

Categories: All things mobile phones.

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