MikeLigalig.com

By Saul Hansell
New York Times

Verizon Wireless this week told companies that send out text messages that starting Nov. 1 it will impose a fee of 3 cents for each message it delivers to the phones of its subscribers. The plan prompted waves of protest among many of the companies that use text messages, and Verizon has backed off the details.

The 3-cent fee would be in addition to the fee of as much as 20 cents that those subscribers pay Verizon to receive the same message.

Text messages have become a popular way for companies to send bits of information to customers â€" sports scores, flight delays, bank balances or the latest updates from a social network.

The charge by Verizon Wireless, the nation’s second-largest cellphone service provider after AT&T, may prompt companies that have been working to tap into the texting boom to rethink their strategies. Many may simply stop sending messages to Verizon customers.

they better not or my family plan bill wil skyrocket considering my daughters rack up thousands of free minutes from texting