As mentioned in my previous post, SMS uses Mobile Operator's Infrastructure so we should broadly see these as cost for Mobile Operator.Immediate question which you might have is "What is Free SMS then ? ".I would reiterate , Almost all mobile operators don't directly deal with End SMS User Entities (like web sites, banks , insurance companies, Clubs etc.).Rather they lease SMS Capacity to SMS Aggregators(Alternatively, SMS Service Providers) at wholesale/bulk cost. SMS Service Providers further resale that capacity and earns hafty profits(even few cents per sms multiplied by few Millions make it a good amount).
SMS Service Providers further give service of "Free SMS" in cases as below :
- They can initially give you few sms free to try their services.This range can vary from couple of free sms to max. 100 of sms.
- SMS is not priced equally throughout globe. It is very costly in US/European countries whereas quite cheap in South Asian Countries like India, Bangaldesh, Pakisthan etc. In some places in India, its 4000 local sms per USD as offered to subscribers.These aggregators resale capacities in such a low price for Western Clients that these can be termed as "Like Free SMS" if not exactly "Free SMS".
- Some small SMS Service Providers earn money through displayed ads on their website and offer limited number of sms FREE.
- Now a new trend has started which will soon be a big phenomenon in market.Some SMS Service Providers offer you FREE SMS but append (Prefix/Postfix) their ads in SMSs.e.g. they would allow you to send SMS upto 100 characters(say) and rest 60 characters would be having their advertisement content. These providers mainly allow FREE SMS in single Country or limited number of Countries to maximize effect of advertisements.After all, nothing is actually free. They would also have to collect money from advertisers through targeted ads.
I would cover all these "Free SMS" possibilities and their review in my continued posts.
No comments:
Post a Comment