p2pnet news view | Mobiles:- On Friday  Bell plans to start charging another 15 cents for text messages going to customers who don’t pay a monthly fee for the service, a move which prompted a class action to be lodged by Éric Cormier, an ex-mobile telephone salesman.

And Telus plans to start charging at the end of August.

But, “industry observers” are “weighing in” on the plans, denouncing them as a money grab, says the Financial Post, going on:

“One of the chief reasons the two companies have given their subscribers for the pending practive is the need to accommodate a larger volume of traffic.”

But, “I don’t buy the argument because I see the numbers, I know the costs of these platforms and the cost of the [entire network] is not that bad,” says an unnamed source in the story.

“If it’s dimensioned properly, there’s no stress on the network,” the source said.

“Any other excuse may have resonated a little bit better than suggesting the burden is on the customer to pay for [the operators] to upgrade their systems. It’s ridiculous.”

The source, “declined to be identified since he does business with all three cellphone companies, says the Financial Post, adding:

“The text message has emerged as an easy way for international wireless operators to generate healthy profit. According to a study by U.S. management consulting firm Bain & Co. released in 2007, the profit margin of many data products, including text messaging, is between 75% and 95%, compared to voice margins of around 50%.”

“It’s a competitive market,” said Bell spokesman Jason Lazslo.

“Implementing this fee is simply aligning ourselves with the competitive marketplace.”

. .Stumble It!

class action – Bell Mobility class action, July 29, 2008
Financial Post -New text-messaging fees a cash grab: observers, August 4, 2008

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 6:19 am and is filed under Mobiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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