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Twitter Limits UK Tweets; Feeling The Pinch On SMS?

By Dianne See Morrison - Mon 19 Nov 2007 08:14 AM PST

Microblogging site Twitter has capped the number of messages UK users can receive by SMS to 250, as the tweeters twitter here. New York VC Union Square may have bankrolled the service, but could Twitter be feeling the pinch, money-wise?

North American users are still allowed an unlimited number of inbound texts, attributed to the different charging regimes for text messages in the US and the UK (while US mobile phone users typically pay to receive texts, UK customers do not, making it harder for Twitter to earn money). TechCrunch estimates Twitter gets $0.02 to $0.031 a message per incoming text, thanks to its use of an SMS number based in the Isle Of Man. But they are paying at least $0.08 per outbound message - meaning “they are losing money hand over fist”.

Posted in: Companies, Countries, Europe, UK, Social Media

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From Steven Livingstone Fri 23 Nov 2007 01:36 PM

Interesting. The thing is i rarely use Twitter with SMS - i use a PDA or i’d hit the mobile wap site first.

I’d *never* ask for messages to be delivered via SMS - the constant beep would drive me insane. I may do it for a particular individual, but quite unlikely.

Twitter is just too noisey just now IMHO.

From Geoff Fri 23 Nov 2007 02:48 PM

Interesting thing about UK twitters is that the number used is based in the Isle of Man which is outside the calling plans (free texts) of many UK users, eg T mobile and 3. This means each Twitter can cost £0.21 about $0.45