Just another WordPress weblog

The Dallas Morning News has us covered for today’s consumer topic. A short time ago, Sen. Herb Kohl asked carriers why SMS rates are so high. It costs very little to push the miniscule data pieces across the network, so he wonders how a carrier can charge 20 cents for each message sent and received. Not long thereafter, lawyers started suing carriers over the issue. The writer, Andrew Smith, notes that while massive profits aren’t illegal, “people start thinking about collusion and antitrust suits” when companies all hike their rates.

These cases fall in the antitrust realm, though they are said to be “right at the edge” of it. Smith goes on to compare this situation to airlines, which have gotten away with plenty when it comes to unison fare hikes. And he correctly notes at the end that this will largely depend on the judges trying the cases.

Share on Facebook | Add to De.licio.us | Digg This! | Technorati