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Txt= data? why isnt it included in our data plans for free?

keenan wolf

keenan wolf

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 2, 2008
337
0
why arent txts free if we have unlimited data? they should be. its just data, barely any at that.

i dont understand why there is an extra charge for txts, they are just data and if we have a data plan shouldnt it go under that?
 
While it technically is data, text messages have always been charged by each message in and out. What is really stupid is the fact that nearly every year the price per message always increases, there is no real reason for the price increase, other than the fact they can earn more money per message and/or make you pay for an unlimited plan.
 
Yes, it is perfectly legal for them to do that. However, you are able to get out of your contract without paying an ETF if they announce they are increases the price per message.
 
keenan wolf said:
is it legal for them to do that? idc about voice. i just want to know why txts are different than internet...
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They can charge whatever they want for whatever they want. No one is making you use AT&T or any cell carrier for that matter.
 
The General said:
They can charge whatever they want for whatever they want. No one is making you use AT&T or any cell carrier for that matter.
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yeah but, i read somewhere that cellular providers were getting investigated for raising prices and charging extra. idk the specifics though...
 
While it's technically data, it doesn't send via traditional data networks. SMS data was designed to be transmitted across signaling paths used for telephony. It wasn't even originally designed as a "user feature". More can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS
 
I agree but I believe the argument is that text messages go over the phone network and not the data network. This is different than the way email works. With Push, email starts to work similiar to text messages.
 
The thing that really chaps my ass about the whole thing is how AT&T rapes, err.... charges us for incoming texts on top of those we send. And we have no means of blocking any numbers so in effect we could be spammed into serious overages.

Having a conversation through texts can eat up 200 messages pretty quickly.
 
keenan wolf said:
yeah but, i read somewhere that cellular providers were getting investigated for raising prices and charging extra. idk the specifics though...
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They are under investigation because the government thought they were all working together to raise the prices at the same time. This is illegal because it's basically monopolizing the market by reducing the competition.

But, they can charge you as much as they want. Some restaurants charge for ranch ... some don't.
 
keenan wolf said:
why arent txts free if we have unlimited data? they should be. its just data, barely any at that.
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Because texts are NOT data. Texts are basically incoming phone calls.

Data connections are initiated always by the phone, share air time slots with other phones, and bypass most of the phone system, going straight to the internet. Because they are shared connections, data is always billed by data amount, not by connection time.

Incoming texts must use the telephone control system find your phone wherever it is in the world, make arrangements for billing and connections, then allocate a dedicated air slot on a tower and send you the page and get acknowledgement. So basically, they're billed like a phone call, which is usually minimally charged by a minute. How much do you pay per minute?

In addition, texts require an entire set of infrastructure for store and forward in case you're not online at the time.

So no, data and text are TOTALLY different things.

An advantage of texts is that, because they are just another call, the phone doesn't have to spend extra battery keeping a connection going to be watched. Texts are as true a push mechanism as you can get on a phone, and without battery penalty.
 
same reason it's not for any other phone

well unless you are like me and still have a media max plan with data and text
 
keenan wolf said:
why arent txts free if we have unlimited data? they should be. its just data, barely any at that.

i dont understand why there is an extra charge for txts, they are just data and if we have a data plan shouldnt it go under that?
Click to expand...

Everything you come in contact with regarding electronics is data
 
kdarling said:
Because texts are NOT data. Texts are basically incoming phone calls.

Data connections are initiated always by the phone, share air time slots with other phones, and bypass most of the phone system, going straight to the internet. Because they are shared connections, data is always billed by data amount, not by connection time.

Incoming texts must use the telephone control system find your phone wherever it is in the world, make arrangements for billing and connections, then allocate a dedicated air slot on a tower and send you the page and get acknowledgement. So basically, they're billed like a phone call, which is usually minimally charged by a minute. How much do you pay per minute?

In addition, texts require an entire set of infrastructure for store and forward in case you're not online at the time.

So no, data and text are TOTALLY different things.

An advantage of texts is that, because they are just another call, the phone doesn't have to spend extra battery keeping a connection going to be watched. Texts are as true a push mechanism as you can get on a phone, and without battery penalty.
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no, text is pure data
 
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