Could you be paying $1,000 per MB for SMS?

Many mobile phone prepaid service plans in the United States 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?

I’m about ready to get my geek on but before I do, take a look at a few of the plans from various wireless carriers:

Cingular/AT&T:

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

Verizon Wireless:

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

Sprint/Nextel by Boost Mobile:

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

Virgin Mobile MVNO via Sprint:

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

Ok, a bit of geektasic 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.

Please note: With the above calculations, I’m assuming you use all the characters available in every message which none of us do.

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.

Cingular/AT&T:

• $983.04 per 1MB of message data - domestic
• $1,310.72 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 say you sent and received 1,000 SMS. You’re per MB charge is $131.07.

Verizon Wireless:

• $655.36 per 1MB of message data - domestic to other Verizon phone
• $983.04 per 1MB of message data - domestic to other carrier
• $1,638.40 per 1MB of message data - international
• no bundles

Sprint/Nextel by Boost Mobile:

• $655.36 per 1MB of message data
• $32.77 per 1MB of message data (assuming 1,000 messages per month)

Virgin Mobile MVNO via Sprint:

• $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

It’s no wonder that the Internet is jealous of mobile data!

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• Verizon Wireless Subscribers Send 10 Billion SMSs In June | July 24, 2007
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• Mobile TV: A Huge Failure? | August 3, 2007