Lower bills could be around the corner for Australian mobile users after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s decision to target “outrageous” SMS operator charges.
Stemming from a review into charges major telco networks issue for cross-network mobile use, the ACCC has turned its attention to the monopoly on SMS prices by establishing universal SMS and MMS charges despite mixed reactions from major competitors.
“Telcos are currently setting whatever outrageous wholesale price they want and then that gets passed onto consumers,” Australian Communications Consumer Action Network deputy CEO Narelle Clark told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“This level of profit margin is astronomical.”
Optus has emerged as a proponent of the move, citing a near 10-year span without change to telco pricing despite the emergence on free online-based messaging services WhatsApp and Viber while Telstra and Vodafone have opposed the idea due to the unlimited amount of SMS and MMS included in many customer contracts.
“We see little benefit in regulating wholesale SMS as our customers already have access to unlimited SMS on our most popular plans and can choose from a host of alternatives with the emergence of smartphones, message applications and social media,” a Telstra spokeswoman told ComputerWorld.com.au.
Figures from Macquarie Telecom and the ACCAN informed the inquiry the true cost of an SMS ranged between $0.000083 and $0.00016 cents, meaning average charges of 15 cents per message equated to a mark-up of 90,000 per cent.
It gets worse- many Australians on monthly and pre-paid deals are paying even higher prices for SMS, including up to 28 cents on some Virgin services and 29 and 30 cents on respective Telstra and Vodafone packages.
Access the entire ACCC decision at the commission’s official website.
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