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Free SMS On IPhone 3G Via AOL IM Client
Glenn Fleishman writes "Jeff Carlson has discovered that you can bypass the 20 cent per message or $5 to $20 per month fees for SMS (text messaging) with the iPhone 3G and AT&T by using AOL's downloadable instant message client for iPhone 2.0, which is free. Just like the full-blown AOL IM system, you can add buddies that are the phone numbers of cell phones you want to send SMS to, and you establish a two-way conduit. The recipient still pays for SMS (if they have a fee) on their end, but if it's another iPhone user, you could coordinate with them via SMS to use instant messaging instead."
This really isn't a big deal. The big deal will be Apple's reaction to it. Will they like it, since people might be encouraged to use AOL on iPhones as an alternative to SMS? Or will they kill the AOL client and make iPhone users pay for SMS?
What's the value of information that you don't know?
It seems like in this semi-competitive market, one of the providers would've made the unusual move of switching to free SMS. I realize it's pure profit for them, but it seems like they could make up the difference with the influx of new customers, and potentially less voice bandwidth usage.
At WWDC, it was mentioned that there would be something called Universal Push Notification. Some explanation here. It seems you will be able to push either badges (that will attach to your app's icon), custom alert sounds, or overlay text messages (I assume like MSN chat does), which will overlay any currently running app.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any reference to this on their developer web site, which miserably has no search functionality. Yes, that's right, I am also developing for the iPhone. What have I developed? Why, the iVibe. Exactly what it does is left to your imagination. No, it is not yet on the Apple store. Coming soon, for better or for worse.
Qxe4
Exactly the reason why they offer flat rate services. The more people have data-plans, the less it makes sense to charge for individual SMS'. In the end they will charge 5 bucks for unlimited SMS if you want it or not, because otherwise they would lose that source of revenue while data plans get cheaper and cheaper.
Btw: For the same reason the telcos of many countries refuse to sell you DSL without a telephone line. Voip could fill the void completely and it would be even possible to implement a free system on a global scale, but it would hurt those providing access to voip services and for that reason they won't let you use it exclusively (or at least let you pay for what they don't earn the traditional way). And if you are paying for it anyways there is less incentive to switch to free alternatives.
I love flat rates in general, but sometimes they are just designed to keep the status quo. In the end everything gets cheaper in regards to what we pay per minute, but the bill at the end of the month still is as high as 8 years ago.
Just look at how many households still have a fax machine and you will realize how much pricing is preventing a real step forward.
I don't read replies by ACs.
Considering the cost of SMS, keep in mind there's much more to SMS than just transporting the bytes of text. One of the things you're overlooking is the store/forward nature of SMS (for reliable delivery), as well as the per-message transactional overhead.
With a voice call, most of the work is in setting up the connection to the person you're calling. Once that connection is established, essentially you're streaming 8K per second of data (64 kilobits / sec). None of that data gets stored anywhere for later retransmission -- the network really needs to do nothing beyond act as a pipe.
With SMS, your message gets stored in a queue so that it can be sent to your recipient if they're not available. This message queue needs to be able to handle many thousands of transactions per second -- if done incorrectly, this can cause a significant bottleneck. You might not notice if 160 bytes worth of voice data get scrambled, but a missed SMS message might cause you significant problems. If your phone is turned off, you miss your calls -- maybe you'll get a voicemail. With SMS, you'll get your message when you turn the phone back on.
The per-message transactional overhead can be quite substantial. The carrier has to generate billing events for sending / receiving messages. They may need to query or debit a prepaid system. They may have per-subscriber whitelist / blacklist rules which need to be applied to every message. All of these systems cost money to purchase and maintain. These also apply to voice calls, but in that case, those costs are covered either by your flat-rate local service charge, or by your per-minute long distance charges.
One other thing is that delivering SMS messages does actually cause quite an engineering problem for cell providers. SMS messages are typically delivered via the overhead control channel, which is the same channel used to do call setup/teardown, handoffs between cell sites, and other tasks. The overhead control channel is typically limited in capacity, and many carriers have engineered enough capacity for regular call activity. SMS has exploded in growth over the past few years, to the point that it is exhausting this overhead control channel for some carriers. Carriers have to spend considerable effort to reengineer their networks, so that they are able to keep up with both SMS traffic as well as regular call handling traffic.
The bottom line is that SMS is not a data transport -- SMS is a communication medium, an alternative to a voice call or email. People often send an SMS when a voice call would be inappropriate -- for example, in church, in class, at dinner, etc. The value of SMS isn't in the transport of the bits/bytes, but in conveying a message without having to talk, and without needing to be next to a computer. As for comparing it to a data transport, nobody sends files via SMS. It would be far too slow and expensive.
I agree that 10 cents / message is a little steep, but then, I've paid for a bundle to control costs. Most carriers offer unlimited SMS plans for reasonable prices, or smaller bundles at lower rates. Even though carriers are making money hand over fist for SMS, usage continues to grow exponentially. Even if you consider it a ripoff, there are millions of active SMS users who don't. If you don't want to pay for it, don't use it. :)