Text Messaging: The Bell and Telus Profit Grab

By Kasia Fryklund Jul 16, 2008 In the middle of the Rogers and Apple iPhone PR blitz and resulting Canadian consumer rebellion — as evidenced by www.ruinediphone.com’s 60,000-plus signatures — Bell and Telus announced they are going to begin charging for incoming text messages at 15 cents per message for customers not on bulk text messaging plans. By timing it this way the companies may have hoped to slip quietly under the iPhone PR and the Rogers iPhone plan pricing backlash. Instead the media positioned it as a continuation of the consumer backlash story, just as the Rogers plan story was beginning to crest. By introducing this additional charge, Bell and Telus will double their usage-based text messaging revenue with all the increased revenue coming in at 100 per cent profit. They currently collect 15 cents per message... [read full story]