International SMS???

Captain Beer

Captain Beer

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Why is it so damn expensive? A few years ago we were paying 25c to send an international SMS! Then Vodacom pushed their price up, and a few months later MTN and Cell C did the same!

So what I want to know is, what is the cost made up of? 99% profit?
You can't blame Telkom much longer either :D
 
Toilet_Duck said:
Why is it so damn expensive? A few years ago we were paying 25c to send an international SMS! Then Vodacom pushed their price up, and a few months later MTN and Cell C did the same!

So what I want to know is, what is the cost made up of? 99% profit?
You can't blame Telkom much longer either :D
Click to expand...


I've emailed the guy who deals with our voice products and services I'll get back to you ASAP.

Thanks MTNDD
 
Last edited:
Toilet_Duck said:
Why is it so damn expensive? A few years ago we were paying 25c to send an international SMS! Then Vodacom pushed their price up, and a few months later MTN and Cell C did the same!

So what I want to know is, what is the cost made up of? 99% profit?
You can't blame Telkom much longer either :D
Click to expand...

South African cellular service providers are like sheep - they just follow each other around in circles:D
 
25c...what? Was it realy THAT cheap a few years ago? Can't believe it..cheaper than the frikken national sms's. What does it cost now on MTN? For VC i have a price of roud about R1.50?? in my head. VM also is realy cheap for intl. sms's @ R1.20.
 
VC is the most expensive, around R1.80 or so.

It used to be 25c for ANY sms (off peak) on MTN until around August 2003. Then the Internationals went up to R1.60.
 
You can send international SMS's from Skype for 0.09 euros each with skype out :)
 
ld13 said:
25c...what? Was it realy THAT cheap a few years ago? Can't believe it..cheaper than the frikken national sms's. What does it cost now on MTN? For VC i have a price of roud about R1.50?? in my head. VM also is realy cheap for intl. sms's @ R1.20.
Click to expand...

I used to pay R100 a month for a 500 sms bundle on MTN that could be used for either local or intl. Think it was even cheaper a year or 2 before that, R75 or R80. Remember seeing somewhere on mtnsms.com when it was still running a few years ago that Telkom was charging a 9c duty on evert intl sms. Still doesn't explain why they've gone up to almost R2 though.
 
Best, cheapest SMS service I've found is http://www.mobiwireless.com Basically a java app you can use on your phone and route sms's over GPRS for less than 3 euro cents. Sets your number as the sender id as well so you can get replies directly to your phone etc.
 
Why don't you guys follow the kids thread and use Mxit,it cost 2c per message,and the software is free.
 
GTi said:
Why don't you guys follow the kids thread and use Mxit,it cost 2c per message,and the software is free.
Click to expand...

Not always that practical though, both people have to have Mxit, be online etc.
 
I have Mxit, only problem is that I never use it. Don't dig having it running all day and crashing my phone when it feels like it.
 
Try this site: http://wap.defza.com. This is a 1 stop sms portal. Plus its local. I must mention though that its ideal for Voda users!! One more thing U MUST HAV OperaMini installed on your phone!!! Go to de above link using OperaMini!
 
wap.defza.com...local sms

EliasMH said:
Try this site: http://wap.defza.com. This is a 1 stop sms portal. Plus its local. I must mention though that its ideal for Voda users!! One more thing U MUST HAV OperaMini installed on your phone!!! Go to de above link using OperaMini!
Click to expand...

This is only for local sms,only the netwoks you have sim cards for... But you Cannot send Intl sms through that Excellent WAP page. And you dont need OperaMini to access it also!
 
In addition MTN charges for the delivery report on prepaid so an international SMS costs about R3.50 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rather make the call and say it quickly!!
 
Toilet_Duck said:
Why is it so damn expensive? A few years ago we were paying 25c to send an international SMS! Then Vodacom pushed their price up, and a few months later MTN and Cell C did the same!

So what I want to know is, what is the cost made up of? 99% profit?
You can't blame Telkom much longer either :D
Click to expand...

Hi, a number of foreign networks charge MTN a termination fee for SMS i.e. if you send an SMS to a friend in the UK on T-Mobile for example then T-Mobile will charge MTN for receiving the SMS. This charge varies from operator to operator and is as much as $0.50.

Both MTN and Vodacom (and for that matter Cell C) started charging over R1.50 for international SMS once the networks where made aware of the terminating charges and once the service was made available to customers.

All three networks charge a uniform rate across all international destinations where a loss is made on some destinations and the inverse on others where no terminating charge is levied – this is done for simplicity purposes otherwise there would be a different SMS charge depending on the network you are sending to.

I hope this helps.

Regards

MTNDD.
 
Syndyre said:
Best, cheapest SMS service I've found is http://www.mobiwireless.com Basically a java app you can use on your phone and route sms's over GPRS for less than 3 euro cents. Sets your number as the sender id as well so you can get replies directly to your phone etc.
Click to expand...

I tried the above -is really great:D thanks for the tip

the cost per sms is as follows:
Standard sms (160 characters) R0.27 (2.8 euro cents each:D - bundles start from 5.60euros for 200sms)
Data cost R0.02 (At the full R2/mb)
-------
Total cost R0.29
-------
Delivery report via sms cost one sms (R0.27) and via e-mail are free:D . the other good thing is the bundles don't expire:D
 
sky.akash said:
I tried the above -is really great:D thanks for the tip

the cost per sms is as follows:
Standard sms (160 characters) R0.27 (2.8 euro cents each:D - bundles start from 5.60euros for 200sms)
Data cost R0.02 (At the full R2/mb)
-------
Total cost R0.29
-------
Delivery report via sms cost one sms (R0.27) and via e-mail are free:D . the other good thing is the bundles don't expire:D
Click to expand...

MMMMMMMMMMMM
 
MTN_Data_Dude said:
Hi, a number of foreign networks charge MTN a termination fee for SMS i.e. if you send an SMS to a friend in the UK on T-Mobile for example then T-Mobile will charge MTN for receiving the SMS. This charge varies from operator to operator and is as much as $0.50.

Both MTN and Vodacom (and for that matter Cell C) started charging over R1.50 for international SMS once the networks where made aware of the terminating charges and once the service was made available to customers.

All three networks charge a uniform rate across all international destinations where a loss is made on some destinations and the inverse on others where no terminating charge is levied – this is done for simplicity purposes otherwise there would be a different SMS charge depending on the network you are sending to.

I hope this helps.

Regards

MTNDD.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't it perhaps be better to offer different rates to different networks/destinations so people aren't forced to subsidise others?
 
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