Editing Text messaging (section)

== Challenges ==
=== Spam ===
{{Further|Mobile phone spam}}
In 2002, an increasing trend towards [[Mobile phone spam|spamming]] mobile phone users through SMS prompted cellular-service carriers to take steps against the practice, before it became a widespread problem. No major spamming incidents involving SMS had been reported {{As of|2007|alt=as of March 2007}}, but the existence of mobile phone spam<ref name="3750 FREEMSG Scam">{{cite web |url=http://www.kathirvel.com/mobile-text-scam-claim-3750-for-the-accident-you-had/ |title=Accident Claim Text Scam |publisher=Kathirvel.com |date=7 July 2010 |access-date=29 March 2012 |archive-date=5 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505082249/http://www.kathirvel.com/mobile-text-scam-claim-3750-for-the-accident-you-had/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> has been noted by industry watchdogs including ''[[Consumer Reports]]'' magazine and the Utility Consumers' Action Network ([http://www.ucan.org/ UCAN]). In 2005, UCAN brought a case against Sprint for spamming its customers and charging $0.10 per text message.<ref name="Sprint spam">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/21/business/21cells.html?ei=5090&en=90fb11e106a62920&ex=1279598400&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print |title=Sprint and Cingular Named in Complaints |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=21 July 2005}}</ref> The case was settled in 2006 with Sprint agreeing not to send customers Sprint advertisements via SMS.<ref name="Sprint spam result">{{cite web|url=http://www.ucan.org/telecommunications/wireless/ucan_sprint_cell_phone_spam_decision_by_cpuc|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070718173609/http://www.ucan.org/telecommunications/wireless/ucan_sprint_cell_phone_spam_decision_by_cpuc|archive-date=18 July 2007 |url-status=dead |title=UCAN report on Sprint SPAM SMS settlement |website=Utility Consumers' Action Network |date=5 October 2006 |access-date=29 March 2012}}</ref> SMS expert Acision (formerly LogicaCMG Telecoms) reported a new type of SMS malice at the end of 2006, noting the first instances of SMiShing (a cousin to e-mail [[phishing]] scams). In SMiShing, users receive SMS messages posing to be from a company, enticing users to phone premium-rate numbers or reply with personal information. Similar concerns were reported by PhonepayPlus, a [[Consumer protection in the United Kingdom|consumer watchdog]] in the United Kingdom, in 2012.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/17489393 |title=Warning over 'scam' that charges users to receive texts |work=bbc.co.uk|date=28 March 2012 |access-date=29 September 2014}}</ref>

=== Pricing concerns ===
Concerns have been voiced<ref name="crunchgear.com">{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2008/07/01/atts-text-messages-cost-1310-per-megabyte/ |title=AT&T's text messages cost $1,310 per megabyte |first=John |last=Biggs |publisher=[[TechCrunch]] |date=1 July 2008 |access-date=3 October 2022}}</ref> over the excessive cost of off-plan text messaging in the United States. [[AT&T Mobility]], along with most other service providers, charges texters 20 cents per message if they do not have a messaging plan or if they have exceeded their allotted number of texts. Given that an SMS message is at most 160 [[bytes]] in size, this cost scales to a cost of $1,310<ref name="crunchgear.com"/> per megabyte sent via text message. This is in sharp contrast with the price of unlimited data plans offered by the same carriers, which allow the transmission of hundreds of megabytes of data for monthly prices of about $15 to $45 in addition to a voice plan. As a comparison, a one-minute phone call uses up the same amount of network capacity as 600 text messages,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://universe.byu.edu/node/1163 |title=Texting prices rise as carriers make profits |first=Ashley |last=Jones |newspaper=[[The Daily Universe]] |date= 28 July 2009|access-date=9 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328180032/http://universe.byu.edu/node/1163 |archive-date=28 March 2010}}</ref> meaning that if the same cost-per-traffic formula were applied to phone calls, cell phone calls would cost $120 per minute. With service providers gaining more customers and expanding their capacity, their overhead costs should be decreasing, not increasing. In 2005, text messaging generated nearly 70 billion dollars in revenue, as reported by Gartner, industry analysts, three times as much as Hollywood box office sales in 2005. World figures showed that over a trillion text messages were sent in 2005.<ref>{{cite book|last=Crystal|first=David|title=txting; the gr8 db8|year=2008|publisher=Oxford|location=New York|isbn=978-0-19-954490-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780199571338/page/4 4–5]|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780199571338/page/4}}</ref>

Although major cellphone providers deny any collusion, fees for out-of-package text messages have increased, doubling from 10 to 20 cents in the United States between 2007 and 2008 alone.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2348890,00.asp | work=PC Magazine | first=Chloe | last=Albanesius | title=AT&T, Verizon Deny Text-Message Price-Fixing | date=16 June 2009}}</ref> On 16 July 2009, Senate hearings were held to look into any breach of the [[Sherman Antitrust Act]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Reardon |first=Marguerite |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/at-t-and-verizon-deny-price-fixing-accusations/ |title=AT&T and Verizon deny price-fixing accusations |publisher=CNET News |date=16 June 2009 |access-date=8 March 2022}}</ref> The same trend is visible in other countries, though increasingly widespread flat-rate plans, for example in Germany, do make text messaging easier, text messages sent abroad still result in higher costs.

=== Increasing competition ===
While text messaging is still a growing market, traditional SMS is becoming increasingly challenged by alternative messaging services which are available on smartphones with data connections. These services are much cheaper and offer more functionality like exchanging multimedia content (e.g. photos, videos or audio notes) and group messaging. Especially in western countries some of these services attract more and more users.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.phonearena.com/news/The-death-of-SMS-has-been-greatly-exaggerated_id19493 |title=The death of SMS has been greatly exaggerated |work=Phonearena.com |date=13 June 2011 |access-date=8 June 2015}}</ref> Prominent examples of these include [[Apple Inc.|Apple]]'s [[iMessage]] (exclusive to the Apple ecosystem) and the [[GSMA]]'s [[Rich Communication Services|RCS]].

In 2021, 8.4 trillion SMS messages were sent globally, compared to 18.25 trillion for [[WhatsApp]] alone.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Knight |first=Steven |date=2023-05-09 |title=How Many Text Messages Are Sent a Day? (2023 Statistics) |url=https://www.sellcell.com/blog/how-many-text-messages-are-sent-a-day-2023-statistics/ |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=SellCell.com Blog |language=en-GB}}</ref>

=== Security concerns ===
Experts have advised business users not to use consumer SMS for confidential communication. The contents of common SMS messages are known to the network operator's systems and personnel. Therefore, consumer SMS is not an appropriate technology for secure communications.<ref name="Gartner Research Analytical Source">{{cite web|url=http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?doc_cd=111720 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021214035759/http://www3.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?doc_cd=111720 |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 December 2002 |title=Don't Use SMS for Confidential Communication |publisher=Gartner Group |date=26 November 2002 |access-date=29 March 2012}}</ref> To address this issue, many companies use an [[SMS gateway]] provider based on [[Signaling System 7|SS7]] connectivity to route the messages. The advantage of this international termination model is the ability to route data directly through [[Signaling System 7|SS7]], which gives the provider visibility of the complete path of the SMS. This means SMS messages can be sent directly to and from recipients without having to go through the [[Short Message Service Centre|SMS-C]] of other mobile operators. This approach reduces the number of mobile operators that handle the message; however, experts have advised not to consider it as an end-to-end secure communication, as the content of the message is exposed to the [[SMS gateway]] provider.

An alternative approach is to use end-to-end security software that runs on both the sending and receiving device, where the original text message is transmitted in encrypted form as a consumer SMS. By using key rotation, the encrypted text messages stored under [[Telecommunications data retention|data retention]] laws at the network operator cannot be decrypted even if one of the devices is compromised. A problem with this approach is that communicating devices needs to run compatible software. Failure rates without backward notification can be high between carriers.{{Citation needed|date=May 2014}} International texting can be unreliable depending on the country of origin, destination and respective operators. Differences in the [[character set]]s used for coding can cause a text message sent from one country to another to become unreadable.