Twitter drops UK text message support

 

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Posted on 14 Aug 2008 at 15:18

Twitter has dropped its text message support in the UK, blaming the cost imposed by UK mobile phone companies.

The changes mean users of the microblogging site will no longer be able to receive updates over SMS, though they will still be able to send messages to the site.

In an email sent to users Twitter-founder Biz Stone explained that it was no longer financially viable for the company to support the service until it could make new arrangements with UK mobile phone operators.

"When you send one message to Twitter and we send it to ten followers, you aren't charged ten times, that's because we've been footing the bill," the message reads.

When we launched our free SMS service to the world, we set the clock ticking. As the service grew in popularity, so too would the price... We took a risk hoping to bring more nations onboard and more mobile operators around to our way of thinking but we've arrived at a point where the responsible thing to do is slow our costs and take a different approach."

The news was met with dismay by many of the service's users with one poster noting: "I will be very sad - Twitter is about to become far less useful to me. Hope negotiations are swift and we can get SMS back soon!"

While another says: "All I can say is what a shame; I'm sorry that you had to make this move... it's just not the same service that it was a year ago."

The announcement is a set back for the company which has added an estimated 2.2 million users since its launch in 2006, and recently acquired $15 million in funding from investors.

Author: Stuart Turton