Telcoms complaining about declining SMS use [Globe and Mail]

[chrisk]

I feel bad for the telecoms. Seems their most lucrative business, SMS, is under attack by the less-profitable data options. This might be a good thread to post how you avoid texting lol
No LOLs for telcos as free text messages erode SMS profits - The Globe and Mail

Text-messaging has long been a big-time profit generator for U.S. and Canadian mobile operators, but they now risk losing these profits as consumers find cheaper ways to communicate.
SMS – short message service – is no longer all the rage, but it still generates an estimated 12 percent of service revenue for U.S. operators.


....

“Every major wireless operator is seeing some substitution for text messaging,” said Mark Lowenstein, the head of wireless consulting firm Mobile Ecosystem.
Craig Moffett, an analyst for Sanford Bernstein, said carriers have a huge cause for concern as he described text messaging as “the most profitable service known to man.”


At current rates SMS brings in $1,000 for every megabyte of data transmitted compared with the 2 cents to 13 cents per megabyte generated by a typical wireless Internet data plan, according to Mr. Moffett, who notes that this revenue is virtually “100 per cent profit.”
AT&T and Verizon Wireless have moved to stem a texting revenue decline by eliminating cheaper options for smaller buckets of texts. AT&T eliminated a $10/month plan for 1,000 texts in August and now offers only a $20 unlimited plan or pay-as-you-go texts for 20 cents each.

These guys make me a little ill at times.

I tend to use whattsapp a lot, as it allows me to communicate easily with folks on the iPhone, Blackberry, or Android. I also believe its available on Windows and Nokia. Liveprofile is OK as well, but I like Whattsapp even better. The ability to send your location, a picture, and seamless integration with my contacts list makes Whattsapp the best solutuion I have tried.

Anyone else have any suggestions as to how they avoid using SMS? Comments on the telcom's complaints?

[Mars]

I wish Apple had released imessage as an open protocol, it would be awesome if Android/iOS/WP all seamlessly used data for messages when talking to each other.

[Jake_HT]

"Telecoms losing profits"....

This doesn't compute!

[stoanee]

Originally Posted by chrisk

I tend to use whattsapp a lot, as it allows me to communicate easily with folks on the iPhone, Blackberry, or Android. I also believe its available on Windows and Nokia. Liveprofile is OK as well, but I like Whattsapp even better. The ability to send your location, a picture, and seamless integration with my contacts list makes Whattsapp the best solutuion I have tried.

I just downloaded it, but have never used it. Is there a charge? I have unlimited texting as part of my package .

[geokilla]

LOLWTF? SMS usage hit a new record and they're complaining that it's declining?

Whatsapp is good, but not enough people use it.

[chrisk]

Originally Posted by stoanee

I just downloaded it, but have never used it. Is there a charge? I have unlimited texting as part of my package .

I have unlimited text as well, but the ease at which you can share a location and other data make whattsapp superior.

An example would be that a buddy of mine said he could pick me up...I whattsapp'd my location, and took a pic of the store I was standing in front of and sent via 3-4 clicks. My wife uses it all the time and she is not tech-friendly.

[stoanee]

Sweet, thanks.

[MARSTG]

Oh cmon, so much BS here, people, there are 100 milion SMS sent and received on canadian wireless networks per day! 100.000.000 on canadian networks alone!

[Perineum]

CallerID is another one. They have always charged big for it and it costs them nothing to send or not to send the phone # if you have it.

[chrisk]

Yep. Agreed. I am sure there is infrastructure that needs to be in place to support SMS, but there can be no doubt that this really shows how the ISPs view us consumers.

Maybe they can get the CRTC to instill some BS rule that charges companies like Whattsapp on the amount of bandwidth they consume offering these services....