Sending text messages cheaper by 20-cents by Nov. 30

MANILA, Philippines – The cost of sending regular short message, or text, service will be lower by 20-cents by November 30, 2011 as mobile phone firms reduce access charges.

Smart Communications, Globe Telecom and Digitel Mobile Philippines will bring the access charges down to P0.15 from P0.35 to comply with the recent requirement of the industry regulator, the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC).

Access charge is the fee paid by one carrier for every text message that passes through the network of another carrier. Lower access charge translates to a lower text fee which is currently pegged at an average of P1 per text.
 
Consumers are charged per text based on the cost of the networks sending and receiving the text, plus the cost of the interconnection facilities.  
 
Since the NTC required Smart, Globe, and Digitel to reduce their interconnection charges for SMS, the mobile networks amended their agreements effective Nov. 30.
 
Aside from lower SMS cost, the NTC also required the networks to ensure that their facilities are sufficient to guarantee that 99% of SMS are promptly received within 30 seconds from the time the texts are sent. – Rappler.com