SMS has been one of our favorite ways of communicating with friends and family since forever. Unfortunately, the price for texting has pretty much been at a stand-still ever since we sent our very first SMS using one of those mediaeval Nokia 5110s.
If you look at the amount of data you send in a text message and compare it to how much you pay your operator, SMS is actually one of the most expensive methods of communicating. Sure, buying a bucket plan from your carrier can get you a price as low as $0.01 per 140 bytes, which is how much one 160 character text message weighs. Taken at face value, $0.01 does sound like a pretty good deal, right?
However, if we apply the same cost per byte on an iTunes download of our favorite TV-show, Lost, things are put in a different perspective. After deducting the price you pay for the actual content itself, that one episode of Lost would set you back a mind-blowing$48,000.
Worth noting is that the scenario and prices mentioned here are only for domestic texting in the US. If you want to send an SMS to a friend on the other side of the globe, you will be charged a whole lot more.
Thankfully, there is now a way to go around this.
Rebtel SMS – International Texting For Regular Phones
If you, just like about a billion other people around the world, don’t have a Smartphone and don’t feel like using your computer to send texts, you’ve pretty much been out of luck when it comes to saving on international SMS. Until now. Today, we’re thrilled to announce a new innovative service called Rebtel SMS that lets Rebtel users in the US send SMS to local numbers for rates that are up to 93% lower compared to your operator’s. The only difference with using Rebtel SMS is that you send your message to a cheap local number instead of an expensive international number – just like when calling with Rebtel.
Lowered Rates and 100,000 Free SMS Giveaway
To celebrate the launch of Rebtel SMS we’ve decided to not only lower our SMS rates, but also give away a total of 100,000 free texts to all our Rebtel friends. There are no strings attached. All users, existing as well as new ones are able to enjoy the giveaway.
Starting today, Wednesday April 20, you’ll be able to text for free until the 100,000 messages run out. We’ll be posting daily updates on Facebook, Twitter andGetSatisfaction every day to let you know how many free texts are left.
The new lowered rates apply as soon as all the free messages are up. Below are just a few price examples:
Ghana – 2.9¢, down from 9.9¢
India – 3.9¢, down from 6.9¢
Nigeria – 4.8¢, down from 5.9¢
How To Get Started
1. Sign up for Rebtel here.
2. Add your first contact. Use the international number that you usually text your friend on.
3. Rebtel creates a cheap local number for you to use instead. The new number will be sent to you via email and SMS.
4. Open up your regular SMS app on your mobile phone, select the new local number instead of the international, compose your message and start saving.
Remember, the same local numbers you create on Rebtel to text your friends on can also be used for making super cheap international calls. If you want to have a look at our calling rates, click here. Please note that this new service only is available for our US users and that your operator may charge you unless you have text messages included in your monthly plan.
Have a Smartphone?
If you’re on an iPhone, BlackBerry or Android, you can save on international SMS by downloading one of our mobile apps. All three are equipped with Rebtel SMS functionality that allows you to save up to 93% on your texts to friends and family abroad.
Happy texting!
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