Business News - Uproar over new Canadian texting fees

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Uproar over new Canadian texting fees

TORONTO (UPI) -- Plans by two of Canada's three biggest telecommunications companies to impose fees for incoming text messages have been met with howls of anger.

Both Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility have announced plans to charge customers 15 cents for each incoming text message next month, the Canwest News Service reported. Previously, only outgoing messages cost the user, and the news agency noted outrage over the change on various blog sites.

"If someone sends me 'spam' on my Bell phone, I have to pay for it? I made the mistake of giving my cell phone number to a car rental agency and now I get spam text messages," one Bell customer wrote in a blog.

The other major carrier, Rogers, has no plans to bill for incoming text messages, but breaking contracts with the other two carriers can cost as much as $400, the report said.

The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association said when text messaging came to Canada in 2002, there were 369,000 text messages sent every day. As recently as last year, Canadians were sending 45.4 million per day, the association said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 07/08/2008

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