SMS Interconnect rates essential

[rpm]

SMS Interconnect charges essential

The introduction of a small interconnect fee for SMS messaging is essential in an environment where both businesses and consumers rely on SMS messaging for communication purposes.

 

[Kgabogk]

nay,nay,nay x4

 

[Biscuit1018]

SMS Interconnect charges essential

The introduction of a small interconnect fee for SMS messaging is essential in an environment where both businesses and consumers rely on SMS messaging for communication purposes.

Of course there has to be an interconnect charge on smses.
It doesn't follow that this will cause consumer charges to go up because networks will incur costs and get revenue

But with no sms interconnect charges the receiving network can get screwed if they receive a lot more smses than they send.

 

[kedul]

If you charge the consumer 5 cents per sms, then one cent could be interconnect charge.
Nothing more.

 

[Sting]

Is the cost of an SMS not something like 0,0004 cents?

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

What the article failed to mention was that the networks make 90% profit on the SMS that a WASP charges their client for. Also using a GSM modem to bypass a WASP only works for low volume traffic (less than 5 SMS per minute, or 100 an hour) and where the small business does not have internet access.

I work for a WASP and use a GSM modem for my wifes small business. The only reason I do this (the GSM modem), is because she does not have ADSL. Nothing to do with cost as I can get better rates from WASPS.

 

[ads]

An operator arguing to raise interconnection rates - how unusual

The whole Internet is held together by free peering. Why do these guys think that simply taxing someone else's users is the best way to prevent abuse? There are smarter ways to do this. The real cost of an SMS can probably be measured in microcents, relatively to the packets that flow between any two ISPs. Get a life.

 

[RSA]

NAY!

sour grapes by Bulksms.co.za!!!

international sms providers charging half the price per sms for bulk sms in SA than what these local guys asks.

That is the only reason why they want interconnect, so that we are forced to use the local expensive companies.

 

[CuriouS]

Haha. What a crock of ****. We move to the sms because we cannot afford the retarded call charges, and now we are gonna pay more for a SMS? lol.

 

[Antonf]

I support a 10c interconnect charge for SMS. On top of that networks can charge a further, equally ridiculous, 10c per SMS... I don't believe there is a more expensive per Mb form of data transfer in the world.

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

NAY!

sour grapes by Bulksms.co.za!!!

international sms providers charging half the price per sms for bulk sms in SA than what these local guys asks.

That is the only reason why they want interconnect, so that we are forced to use the local expensive companies.

Actually you already are. Many companies make use of cheaper international carriers only to find a complete failure in QOS. This is not due to the international guys not being up to standard, its a result of the networks blocking the MTs.

Also shortcodes are not available to international carriers. Many companies use shortcodes (talking about the nominal rated ones) to promote their businesses (insurance, financial, etc) and they not only need to work through a WASP but also need to adhere to network requirements which forces them to make use of only local WASPS for all their SMS traffic and not just the ones associated with the shortcode.

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

Haha. What a crock of ****. We move to the sms because we cannot afford the retarded call charges, and now we are gonna pay more for a SMS? lol.

Not as a consumer per say. The article is in reference to the WASP industry where companies send bulk sms out making use of internet APIs. There is actually some benefit to the debate as currently the industry has no competition at network level and this is what they are trying to create.

Example, a WASP wants to send a SMS to a MTN number and need to submit the request to MTN. They cannot submit to Vodacom even though they might be getting a better rate due to their volumes. (The more volumes a WASP has, the better rates they get but its a cut throat industry where WASPS do all the work and get only a cent or two per transaction and the bulk of the fee goes direct to the networks).

 

[Antonf]

Another alternative:
A 100% interconnect charge, provided SMS' are charged at R2/Mb.

 

[HavocXphere]

A few dozen bytes of data shouldn't be charged for at all.

 

[Nuxxy]

Are we supposed to believe someone writing from BulkSMS is giving us purely objective reasoning in this regard? It's only "essential" because you will benefit from it. It's not happening and the world isn't ending, so take your propaganda somewhere else.

 

[Nod]

A single sms contains 140 bytes. Why are we paying 80c for 140 bytes (140 / 1024 / 1024 = 0.00013MB) of data in the first place?

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

Are we supposed to believe someone writing from BulkSMS is giving us purely objective reasoning in this regard? It's only "essential" because you will benefit from it. It's not happening and the world isn't ending, so take your propaganda somewhere else.

You still have no idea about what this is all about. Its not propaganda.

Currently all 3 networks have a monopolised their connection to WASPS. A WASP cannot "shop around" for better rates as they can only send to a network via that network. What WASPA is calling for is interconnection between networks for these binds. This will then allow the networks to compete for the WASPs business as they give better rates based on volumes.

This saving filters down to the clients (has nothing to do with your everyday SMS usage). Companies pass the cost of SMS communication to their clients and if they can drop their costs, the consumer wins. It may mean only a few cents per SMS but it makes a massive difference with the volumes some corps send.

 

[ProSMS]

Prices are set by what the market will bear, not the cost of providing the service.

SMS is the most widely used data application in the world with close to 4 billion active users.
It is also one of the most expensive data applications in the world at more than R3500/Megabyte.

Networks worldwide have realised that lowering call costs and subscription costs are much more effective in attracting new clients, than lowering SMS costs. Hence most have systematically lowered call costs, and very few have significantly lowered SMS costs. Those that have significantly lowered on-net SMS costs experienced problems with spam, which resulted in churn.

Provided there is adequate competition, there is pressure on networks to reduce prices. Hence the focus should be on eliminating uncompetitive practices. Agreements not to compete, such as the agreement not to allow cross network A2P SMS traffic, is clearly uncompetitive.

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

Well put ProSMS