What To Do When You Get a SPAM Text Message

I've been getting these daily it seems. The Federal Trade Commission has a set of guidelines you can use. Here's FTC recommendations on what to do when you get a spam text message:

• Delete any texts asking you to confirm or provide personal information. Legitimate companies don’t ask for information like account numbers or passwords by text or email.
• Don’t reply, and don’t click on links provided in the message. Links can install malware and take you to spoof sites that look real but whose purpose is to steal your information.
• Don’t give out any personal information in response to a text. A spammer wants access to your Social Security number, credit card numbers, and bank and utility account numbers to open new accounts in your name.  
• Report spam texts to your carrier. AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint or Bell subscribers can copy the original text and forward it to 7726 (SPAM), free of charge.
• Review your cell phone bill for unauthorized charges.Report them to your carrier.

Goodbye SMS-Based Text Messaging

ASYMCO put up an interesting piece titled What's up with text messaging? yesterday about texting in Spain. Volume is dropping rapidly with Internet Protocol (IP) based message apps like Whatsapp, Apple's iMessage and Facebook messaging replacing a voice network based text protocol called Short Message Service (SMS). SMS has been around since 1982 and has become a real cash cow for wireless providers. 

Here's more from that ASYMCO post:

• Whatsapp reported that it set a record of 18 billion messages processed over New Year’s Eve. 
• In October Apple announced that iMessage had delivered 300 billion messages during the preceding 12 months.
• Globally SMS traffic is still rising. It’s expected to reach 9.6 trillion in 2012, but at least one analyst forecasts  that SMS’s share of global mobile messaging traffic will fall from 64% in 2011, to 42% in 2016.

I'd also put Skype on the list as a disruptor.

Expect similar results in the United States and other countries. Wireless providers have seen this coming for a while now and (I believe) it's the reason we've seen most implement data caps while, at the same time, encouraging customers to consume more data (translation - go over your data cap) using services like mobile video streaming. 

If you want to know more about SMS and IP based texting I've got an earlier posted titled Why Are My iPhone Text Messages Sometimes Blue and Sometimes Green? linked here.

Why Are My iPhone Text Messages Sometimes Blue and Sometimes Green?

Lately I've been getting this question a lot. Here's what's up.

Green messages on your iPhone use a voice text protocol called Short Message Service (SMS). SMS was developed way back in 1982 and designed to run on voice networks using a separate channel used for signaling. Technically SMS was easy to implement and, with the popularity of mobile phones, it became very popular really fast. Messages are limited in length 160 characters and as a result many of us have learned to abbreviate words using text-speak shorthand.

iMessage is different. It's Internet Protocol (IP) based and does not require a voice connection. You can use IP based text services like iMessage on cellular data networks along with WiFi networks and your computer.

Now here's the big advantage - you don't need a text message plan to send and receive iMessage based texts. You do need some kind of text message plan to send and receive SMS (green) messages.

When are messages green? Here's a few common scenarios:

1. You or your friend have not updated your iPhone to iOS5
2. You or your friend are not registered with Apple iMessage. 
3. You or your friend are in a place where there is no cellular data signal but there is a voice network signal.
4. You send a message to someone not on the same network as you and only one of you has an iPhone. For example, you've got an AT&T account and your friend has a Verizon Wireless account. If you both have iPhones and both have data connections iMessage will work cross-carrier. 
5. You're on the same network but one of you has iMessage turned off. To turn iMessage on and off on your iPhone use Settings -> Messages -> iMessage On/Off

Is SMS sticking around? Not for long with "free" services like iMessage and this is rapidly becoming a problem for the providers. SMS has been a huge cash cow for wireless providers earning an estimated $114.6 billion in 2010.

Q&A: Wireless Data Caps And Other Wireless Stuff

I started working on this post on Friday with the intention of posting today. It seems even more appropriate today with the Verizon strike starting over the weekend......

I've had the chance to speak at four or five conferences over the past few months or so on emerging broadband technologies and services. A good chunk of one of these presentations always covers wireless technologies with a focus on 4G (WiMax and LTE) upgrades. One thing I can count on are questions from the audience about wireless data caps. With Verizon Wireless halting their all you can eat plan on July 6th, these questions have become even more frequent. Here's some of those questions and my answers:

Question: Why are the wireless providers doing this?

Answers:

• Expensive to maintain landline divisions of the big providers (AT&T and Verizon), still comprise approximately half of their business. In comparison, wireless is less expensive to install and maintain.
• Average wireless subscriber voice plan revenue has dropped from $50 per month in 2005 to approximately $33 today. Wireless voice plans have become commoditized.
• Smartphones with expensive data plans have allowed the wireless providers to replace the loss in voice revenue.
• These same smartphones have put incredible demand on wireless bandwidth, wireless spectrum and fiber backhaul connecting cell towers. 4G technologies operate at approximately 10 times the rate of 3G and will continue to challenge the providers when it comes to capacity needs.
• A recent Business Week article refers to cellular upgrades by the major providers in the U.S. as "Money Pits".  In 2010 the telcos cost of capital exceeded their return on invested capital - which may mean they're throwing good money after bad.

Question: My students, my own kids, grandkids, etc are constantly texting. Hasn't text messaging provided some nice revenue for the wireless providers?

Answers: 

• comScore reports 69.6 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile devices in 2010.
• The same Business Week piece referenced above estimates text messaging represents 16% of Verizon Wireless revenue and contributes as much as 40% to total profit. AT&T numbers are likely similar.
• Text messaging was designed for voice phones - basically phones that do not have alphabet keyboards. You don't see too many of those around anymore. Smartphones have more capabilities and options.
• The problem is, with a smartphone you don't need a text plan from a wireless provider to send text messages. Smartphone users can send and receive unlimited text messages using free apps like Skype, Google Voice, TextNow and GroupMe using the smartphone's data connectivity. Using many of these apps users can also text from there computers at work, laptops, iPads etc as long as they have an Internet connection. 
• Apple will be releasing a new messaging feature called iMessage and the  next version of Microsoft Windows Phone will integrate texting with Facebook chat. Both of these services will also bypass the wireless texting technology.
• Text message revenues are going to drop rapidly as users move to apps that run on smartphones.
• Capping data is one way wireless providers will try to recover some of this revenue. There is a bit of a flaw in this strategy though - the average text message (unless pictures are attached) uses very small amounts of data bandwidth. 

Question: 4G services are fast and a monthly 5GB cap is not going to last long. Are you concerned?

Answers:

• Right now I'm a little concerned. For example, I'm on an unlimited data plan now from AT&T and I'll keep that as long as I can. Even though I never come close to 5GB per month, if I were to end up switching, I'd go with a provider that does not cap bandwidth. I would not lock into a long term capped data plan with any provider. 
• Right now Sprint is still offering unlimited data plans - the big two (AT&T and Verizon) are not. If you are concerned about caps I would take a close look at Sprint.
• In places where I do use my phone for data I would estimate over 50% of the time I'm in a location where I have secure WiFi access. As long as I've got the WiFi radio on I'm not using wireless (3G/4G) bandwidth.
• I live in a small town that only has a couple of gas stations. The price per gallon is always high. The next town over has a number of gas stations in a relatively small area and price per gallon competition is fierce. When one drops their price the others follow almost instantly. Competition is good. Right now AT&T and Verizon have agreed to implement caps. If one of them cracks or another alternative provider comes along (Google, Microsoft or who knows who?) with unlimited service at a competitive price they'll all have to drop their caps fast to prevent customer churn.

Over the long term, I'm not really worried about data caps.