This week, Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) asked the top wireless carriers—AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile—to explain why they doubled the cost of sending text messages over the past 3 years. They have until October 6th to respond.

The similar price increases, coming at similar times, Kohl said, “is hardly consistent with the vigorous price competition we hope to see in a competitive marketplace.”

Kohl noted in the letter that the top four carriers combined have over 90 percent of the U.S. market, and wants the carriers to provide information on

• how their pricing structures differ from their competitors;
• the factors that led to their decision to raise prices;
• a comparison of text message pricing to other wireless service pricing;
• the utilization of text messaging over the past three years.

“Congress questions high cost of texting” [Cnet: The Iconoclast] (Thanks to Brett!)
(Photo: Getty)