Generally we’ve always viewed roaming as the biggest rip-off in the world of cell phones. Here in Canada when you cross the US boarder Rogers charges $6.14 per megabyte for data usage. In the world of 3G this can add up quite fast, if you head overseas your data bill will be $30.00 per megabyte. I can’t even begin to imagine what using an iPhone in Europe for a two week vacation, just thinking about the roaming bill makes me feel nauseous.

What’s even sicker than these roaming rates is what cellular carriers charge for text messaging pay-per-use. They wrap it up nicely by telling you that it’s “only” $0.15 per message. Doesn’t sound like much money does it? Much like if you extended out the cost of a bottle of water to see what you’re paying per litre, extending out the cost of text messaging to see the cost per megabyte makes data roaming seem like a bargain.

Let’s look at the numbers:

• $0.15/message
• 160 characters(bits) per message
• SMS Cost/bit $0.0009375
• SMS Cost/Byte $0.0075
• SMS Cost/Megabyte $7,650.00

So cellphone companies are charging $7650 per megabyte, granted that is only to customer who pay-per-use but still a staggering number. If you roam out of your home country some carriers can charge a SMS roaming rate of $0.75 per message, which is $38,400 per megabyte.

What really bothers me about SMS charges is paying for incoming messages; this is without a doubt very frustrating. You can’t stop someone from text messaging you, unlike phone calls which you can choose to answer. Like Vito Corleone, cellular companies make you an offer you can’t refuse. “Buy a text messaging plan, or we’re going to charge you $7,650 per megabyte to receive text messages against your will.”

Leave the gun take the cannoli.