Senator accuses cell carriers of price-fixing on SMS pricing

Wow, this is great. Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl is basically accusing cell carriers of price-fixing on SMS fees.

I don't use SMS and don't like it - but that's because my smartphone groks email and IM. I understand SMS for the majority of cell users who don't have these capabilities.

...but whether or not I use a service, I don't like to see the public getting gouged, and I always thought it was nuts that I could get tons of (or even unlimited) minutes to talk time at a fixed low rate but have to pay a few dimes for every SMS message. The carrier's cost of SMS is a few bytes per message, and doesn't have to be transmitted at a constant rate. However, a voice call requires multiple kilobytes per second on a secured, reliable, constant rate of transmission - that's a significantly higher burden on the carrier's network than an SMS.

Clearly SMS charges are a sham. ...now, it could be the case that cell providers prop up low monthly fees with SMS fees. If so, reducing or eliminating SMS fees would increase monthly fees - but at least you would be paying the right amount for the right service.