Bell jacks up the cost of text messaging to absolutely ludicrous numbers

Now, I do understand that very few people pay by the text anymore. Even pay-as-you-goers typically have an unlimited texting bundle. But as a matter of principle, Bell's decision to jack up the price of text messages is outrageous.

Effective in August, sent and received text messages will go from an already overpriced 15 cents to a shockingly ridiculous 20 cents, an increase of 33 percent at a time when inflation is stagnant. This even includes sending and receiving messages in applications like Twitter, Facebook, and MSN, thoroughly handcuffing a user.

Why is this cost so offensive? It's all in the markup. Text messages are purely text and are even capped at a couple sentences long, making for data consisting of only a couple of kilobytes. What does this cost Bell? A fraction of a penny. So the profit margin here is well over 99 percent. For every text you send by this method, you are essentially giving Bell 20 cents.

Of course, anyone paying by the text is a fool anyway. Unlimited texting is available everywhere for $5—which already is at the very high end of what it should cost, given the data it uses. But again, on principle, this move by Bell is sickening.