wireless carriers ask you: just how badly can we rip you off?

excerpt:
"And the answer is, quite a bit....."

"A text message is a package of bandwidth—AKA data. We all know that data costs money; that's why some of us stick with our dumbphones and why some of us get heart attacks when our monthly wireless bill rolls in. But when we think of data, we think of data plans; 500 megabytes for $10, two gigabytes for $25, or what have you. Text messaging, as has become fairly standard, is about $5 for unlimited SMS.
And that's the magic of it. Five bucks doesn't seem like a lot of money, and unlimited sounds like a lot of texting. Overall, it seems like a worthwhile feature and as such has become a staple in virtually all modern cellphone plans. Even discount wireless carriers such as Wind Mobile charge this flat fee for unlimited text messages. If those guys feel the price is right, it's gotta be a fair deal, right?
Wrong.
Texting your friend "Hey, what's up, Joe?" costs a wireless carrier roughly 1/1,000 of a penny. That is to say, sending roughly 1,000 text messages should cost, at wholesale pricing, about a single cent. If you send a lot of lengthier texts, it might round up to two cents. The number crunching at this point is simple: unless you're sending 500,000 text messages per month, your wireless carrier is profiting. Most people send under 1,000, and many send less than 100—all the while paying $5.00 per month.
Myriad people have pointed out the unfathomable markup of text messaging. In 2007, one suggest markup was 7,314 percent. In 2009, a markup of 4,900 was calculated. In 2010, in an article titled "America's Biggest Ripoff," the markup was believed to be around 6,500."

http://www.techvibes.com/blog/whats-in-a-text-message-the-real-cost-of-sms-and-just-how-badly-wireless-carriers-are-ripping-you-off-2011-07-05

glad i have no use for a cell phone. can't screw me until ma bell no longer has land lines