A project I am working on relies on SMS messaging. As I posted a while back, real SMS messaging can be costly, but has several benefits over SMTP delivery.

Sending SMS by SMTP works, but is only reliable if the end user diligently keeps you informed of the network they are on, thanks to number portability, and you don’t get delivery reports.

In the last 2 weeks, as the project neared launch, Simplewire informed us that we needed a CSC (short code) to be a valid sender.

This is something new in the U.S., I had been using Simplewire for a couple years with no problem, one of the reasons I embarked on the current project.

It seems the U.S. telcos have decided to tighten their hold on this market, requiring each new commercial sender lease a CSC, in addition to paying a per message fee.

I am now contemplating switching to a European or South African gateway, and possibly falling back to SMS by SMTP.

To give you an idea, it costs $375/month to lease a CSC, an additional $1000/month for support through Simplewire, and a per message transmission fee.

The $375/month is a discount for a 12 month lease, and not requiring a vanity CSC.

Supposedly, we can recoup the costs by reusing the CSC across multiple applications.

Next, the telcos will be charging extra to deliver your internet traffic consistently?

Oh wait, they are already threatening to do just that!