AT&T ’s kill their $ 10/1,000 text plan . Now , you ’ll have to choose between $ 20 for inexhaustible , or forgo a program and compensate $ 0.20 per message . AT&T calls this “ streamlining . ” We call it what it is : an outrageous , gigantic scam .
It ’s important to note , before considering anything SMS , that text edition messages are fundamentally gratuitous . Not for you , of course of instruction , but for companies like AT&T , Verizon , and Sprint . Unlike uploading a video to YouTube from your phone , which eat mobile bandwidth , text substance rally the same itsy bitsy communication channel your French telephone uses to retard in with local column to ensure it ’s turned on . Each schoolbook hitches a ride on an infinitesimally small data package , chugging through traffic that would ’ve been there anyway . For AT&T , it ’s basically a freebie—160 bytes of datum . A triviality . Compared to the repose of what they ’re transmitting , AT&T ’s texts are like amoebas on the back of a tyrannosaurus .
And here ’s why it ’s insane . Absolutely , skull - implodingly , village - razingly , pass over - out - your - window - into - spike mad .
AT&T offers a 2 G per calendar month phone data point programme for $ 25 . By breaking this down , we can find out how much they think each text ’s Charles Frederick Worth of data cost . And according to this value , when you ’re using the same amount of data point to send a textual matter without a messaging plan , they ’re charge you 100,000 fourth dimension more . Yes . Blink a few times and read that again . When AT&T call data point texting , it costs 100,000 times more than when it ’s in the form of photo , music , email , or anything else . They ’re ripping you off with the force of a nuclear bomb .
Here ’s how it break down :
AT&T charge $ 25 for 2 G of mobile data , which states how much they call back their scrap and bytes are worth . That come out to 80 megabytes per dollar . 80 M will get you 500,000 text messages — assuming you ’re spell the big possible message , which you ’re often not ( i.e. “ Hey ” “ Nothing ” “ lol ” ) .
Now disunite that clam by the 500,000 potential texts . That comes out to $ 0.000002 per text edition — two ten thousandth of a cent . A very , very , very small amount of money .
Now , let ’s say you send 5,000 texts a month . That ’s a large , though all realistic number . Multiply that by the above wretched price per text , and you ’ve got — hold onto your wallet!—$0.01 . A penny for five thousand texts , according to how much AT&T says its data is worth in a data plan .
But outside of the data plan ? Oh boy ! Things get very different very tight . And by very different , I imply extraordinarily overpriced . Those same 5,000 text , at a charge per unit of $ 0.20 per subject matter , will be you $ 1,000 . Not a cent — a grand . Two very different prices for literally the exact same thing .
They ’re not alone — every other carrier heraldic bearing likewise grotesque rates for texting without an SMS architectural plan . The difference here is that AT&T ’s engage away novel customers ’ option to spend less , whereas letter carrier like Verizon still offer tiered texting plans for change budget . ( Though do n’t be surprised if they follow suit — AT&T ’s been precede the manufacture in its data / pricing , often in the worst ways . )
When the blue curtain ’s rive back and you see the enormous money tree they ’re shaking , there ’s nothing to reason but outrage . Texting message are as dearly-won to AT&T as tout bubbles , but they sell them to you like they ’re cat molten gold .
you could keep up with Sam Biddle , the generator of this post , onTwitter , Facebook , orGoogle+ .
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