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Why are SMS messages so expensive?
(lemmy.today)
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this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2024
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There is a large contrast in this regard between NA and Europe. In Europe data is dirt cheap and wifi is usually available anyways so messaging over whatsapp/signal/whatever is much more common than trying to use SMS. In America public wifi is extremely rare and businesses are so spread out that coverage is limited... people also tend to use iPhones which default you into their shitty iMessage - SMS was also traditionally much cheaper so it's more of a habit in NA.
GSM SMS protocol is the same on both continents. The reason SMS became free in the US with 4G, was as an attempt to level competition for cell phones that weren’t iPhone, since the iMessage protocol uses data transmission rather than SMS. Now that Android uses RCS, which is also data transmission, the only use for SMS is Android to iPhone texting and dumb phones.
None of that is actually true as a contrast.
There are tons of free wifi networks from hotels to restaurants, etc.
None of what you are saying makes any sense.
In Barcelona, I can go for a ten mile walk and constantly be in range of 3+ open wifi networks. In America it's not uncommon to be out of range of wifi when standing on the curb closest to a restaurant or hotel... additionally American wifi networks are much less likely to be open and municipal services are less well funded.
All of that is true, and makes perfect sense. It all depends on where you live, of course.
Not everyone lives in densely packed urban areas.
That's hilarious. I currently live where I can see like 3 of my neighbors.
And? I can see several neighbors' residences. We barely get cell signal half the time, and the only Internet currently is dodgy WiFi, which also regularly goes wonky. A lot of times we can walk into nearby establishments and leave empty -handed, because Internet is down and we don't have cash enough in have to make our purchases.
Sounds like you need to move away from the actual sticks.
I call where I am country'ish because while I have only a handful of neighbors, we have gigabit down from spectrum, damn near gig over 5g, etc.
🤨
There's literally like four places with free wifi in my entire town. Most of the restaurants don't have it, and we only have two hotels.. neither of which has properly free wifi- you have to get a room to use it.
If you want to get technical, my town (really a village) has zero free wifi networks. It's the larger city to my south that has all of the restaurants, hotels, retail, etc with free wifi.