Normal sms converted in to mms when sent as a group message

[Anonymous]

Just end up with a fat charge because I sent a short sms as group message to around 30 people, my iPhone apparently converted in to mms, 02 charged me, I don't know why 02 allow that, I am going to complain to Ombdusman, this shouldn't happen.

[MI5]

Doesn't everyone have unlimited texts these days ?

[Anonymous]

Deleted by me

[Anonymous]

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@MI5 wrote:
Doesn't everyone have unlimited texts these days ?

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I am sure a great many do @MI5    which brings me full circle. I just cannot understand why O2 or any other service provider would allow customers to send several thousand SMS messages without charge (ie without a charge over and above whatever tariff is [aid for the privilege) yet if we try to send one SMS with say 600 characters it gets converted, not to a long message but a MultiMedia Message with hefty charge applied.  Like so many things today it does not make any sense to me.  So I will shut up now and go read a good book until it is time for Last Tango in Halifax (the plot of which itself is becoming so convoluted I may have to start a thread for help to sort it out.  OK I know -  way, way, way OT now!!

[Cleoriff]

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@MI5 wrote:
Doesn't everyone have unlimited texts these days ?

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Not my husband...or my youngest son......I admit they are on older tariffs and have never felt the need to change...because what they get from one...they would lose on another (Both PAYG)

[MI5]

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@Anonymous wrote:

yet if we try to send one SMS with say 600 characters it gets converted, not to a long message but a MultiMedia Message with hefty charge applied.  

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That text to one person would just send as 4 texts, but the real mystery to me is why MMS messages are charged independently of any data allowance that the user has?

[Anonymous]

Because they make money from it.

[MI5]

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@Anonymous wrote:
Because they make money from it.

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Is the only answer.......

[Cleoriff]

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@MI5 wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:
Because they make money from it.

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Is the only answer.......

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And what i said on post 13...thank god.... I have got one thing right today....

[Anonymous]

apologies in advance for the technical post,but I was hoping that our "technical" guys, and there are 2 of them here already , could translate this for us mere mortals. My answer to your question @MI5 is mms have their own platform. Reading this is that what it says? (taken from the nowmms website)

 In a typical phone-to-phone MMS transaction, the process of sending and receiving the MMS message works like this:

• The sending phone initiates a data connection that provides TCP/IP network connectivity, usually over GPRS.
• The sending phone performs an HTTP POST to an MMSC of the MMS message encoding in the MMS Encapsulation Format, as defined by the Open Mobile Alliance. The encoded MMS message includes all of the content of the MMS message, as well as header information, including a list of intended recipients for the message. (Note: In most environments, the HTTP POST will be routed through a proxy server. Some devices will use wireless profiled HTTP and TCP through a WAP 2.0 proxy server, while other devices will use the Wireless Session Protocol, WSP, through a conventional WAP proxy server/gateway.)
• The MMSC receives the MMS message submission and validates the message sender.
• The MMSC stores the content of the MMS message and makes it available as a dynamically generated URL link.
• The MMSC generates an MMS notification message, which is sent via WAP Push over SMS to the message recipient(s). This MMS notification message contains a URL pointer to the dynamically generated MMS content.
• The recipient receives the MMS notification message. It then initiates a data connection that provides TCP/IP network connectivity (usually over GPRS).
• The recipient phone performs an HTTP (or WSP) get to retrieve the MMS message content URL from the MMSC.

[MI5]

Good grief