Text-message fans rack up debt, 1 dime at a time

June 30th, 2006

Chaz Albert, a freshman at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., is a passionate "texter," someone who loves to send and receive pithy text messages via cell phone. He does it at home, at school and at work. He often prefers texting over talking on his cell phone.

Last month, though, Albert's habit caught up with him. Only $80 of his $400 cell phone charges were his father's, and most of his own, he said, were for text-messaging.

"I was shocked, but I couldn't do anything about it," he said. "I didn't realize that I got charged for reading text messages. My dad was just like: 'Hey, it's your problem. Pay it.' "

In the past two years, text messages -- which cell carriers generally limit to 160 characters -- have become a rage among teenagers, who embrace the technology as yet another mental way to escape a boring class or stay in touch with friends.

But text-messaging can be pricy. Although phone companies offer relatively inexpensive packages -- like Verizon Wireless' $9.99 for 1,000 messages a month -- industry experts say that carriers sometimes fail to draw customers' attention to the cost-saving deals, and that customers themselves often exceed the number of messages allowed. In those cases, sending a text message usually costs 10 cents; the cost of receiving one ranges from 2 to 10 cents.

Many students accustomed to sending unlimited instant messages on their computers do not adapt easily to text messaging's pay-per-message format and end up with unexpectedly high bills when they get involved in keypad conversations that involve hundreds, even thousands, of messages a month. The results are angry confrontations with parents, long-term payment plans and the loss of cell phone privileges.

"It's relatively addictive, and it's only when that first massive bill comes in that you realize that a dime a throw can run up a large bill," said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project, a nonprofit group.

Text-messaging has flourished for years in Europe and Asia, where it is immensely popular among young people. In the United States, activity was limited until 2002, when a breakthrough in the wireless market allowed short text messages to be sent among customers of the major cellular carriers. Previously, customers could send messages only to those who used the same carrier.