Verizon caves, will not charge "spam" fee for texts from teachers to students
Verizon has decided not to charge a new fee that would have forced the closure of a free texting service used by teachers, students, youth sports coaches and other community groups. [19659003] Remind you, a company that offers both free and paid communication service for teachers and other users, declared victory today. It's a big change from two weeks ago, when Remind said it had to stop supporting SMS messages on the Verizon network for free reminder service users.
At that time, Verizon said the fee was needed to fund spam blocking services. But Verizon relented after receiving complaints directly from Reminds users, who said their texts are not spam.
"Your votes have been heard," reminds CEO Brian Gray today. "I am thrilled to announce that, thanks to you, we have heard from Verizon that they do not intend to change the fee structure for SMS message reminder. This means that we will no longer be forced to turn off text notifications for Verizon Wireless customers use reminder. There will be no service disruption for Verizon Wireless customers. "
Last week, Verizon said it would deviate from the fee for K-1[ads1]2 users. But remind you complained when Verizon still intended to charge the fee for kindergartens, kindergartens, youth sports coach and other non-K-12 users of the free reminder service.
Grey's statement today seems to indicate that Verizon ultimately decided not to charge the fee for any texts sent over Remind's service. A reminder spokesman, when contacted by Ars today, said there are "no new fees" charged by Verizon.
Reminder that now closed off of texts over the Verizon network would have taken effect on January 28.
Other companies also
Verinson's decision not to charge the tax will also apply to similar companies.
"We maintain the service just as it has been for Remind and other companies such as providing free communication to these key users," says Verizon yesterday. "We understand how important this service is to our customers and we are committed to to make sure a free messaging option is still available now and then. "
Reminder sends 1.6 billion text messages a year on the Verizon network, according to Verizon. The new fee would have been $ 0.0025 per message, according to Twilio, a technology platform As Remind and other companies use to send text messages.
Remember the cost of sending messages to Verizon customers would have increased from a few hundred thousand dollars to millions of dollars a year, recalling two weeks ago before Verinsons decision to change course.
Reminder says it has 30 million users, most of whom rely on the free version of the service.
Reminder h has been facing a similar situation in Canada, where Bell and Rogers also announced new fees. Remind you today that Bell has decided not to charge the fee so remind you to continue the service on the Bell network. "Unfortunately, text messages will still end on Monday, January 28 for anyone with Rogers Canada or its affiliates," it recalls.
