Buy Used Cell Phones

One of the most interesting commercials I saw on TV was about SMS or text messaging using a regular GSM phone.  This was about ten years ago, when NEC and StarTac flip phones were very popular, even if these did not have any text messaging capability, and had only a one line screen to see what number you dialled.

The video was simple enough.  It started off with a young lady, corporate wear, and walking.  Every so often she'd stop, check her phone and punch a few buttons.  Obviously, she was use her phone to send and receive text messages.  The background was of a sidewalk, and she was walking somewhere.  At the end of her walk, she entered a cafe and sat down at a table where a man was waiting.  And they then they started chatting in sign language.

This TV ad was great because it showed that adding a simple functionality to a phone made for a wider base of users.  The deaf-and-mute, up to that point, were not a viable market for phones.  However, with SMS those who could not speak could still use the phone.

At the time of that TV ad, the United States was very heavy into CDMA, and GSM was having a hard time getting acceptance.  Technologically, CDMA had a lot of advantages, including data transmission speeds.  And was a relatively low-tech idea compared to data transmission issues of the time.

One thing going for SMS was that it didn't take up much bandwidth.  Additionally, SMS was initially offered for free as an add-on service in several markets worldwide.  It turned out to be a very good bait, as there was acceptance of GSM and SMS messaging in these markets.  The driving force for this were not the early adopters (those who had money) but the teens and young adults, as well as the lower-income economic market.  SMS was cheaper and used a lot more frequently than voice calls.

In the United States, there has been a belated response from the service providers.  SMS is a lot more expensive, and not given priority by the wireless phone networks.  It's only recently that some of the cell phone companies have offered free text messaging or flat-rate bulk text messaging rates.

For a business model based on number of potential connections, it's important to have a bait for the potential clients and users to avail of a company's services.  With a big user base, there are potentially more connections between them.  Each connection translates to a possible call.  Getting the cell phone unit to a consumer's hands is important if you want them to use the phone.  Even if the bait was for not for the use of voice calls, with the phone in user's hands, it would be a whole easier for them to make a call.

Other phone features have been introduced since SMS, including MMS and 3G video communications.  There has not been the same level of usage from MMS and 3G video as there are for SMS.  Primary reason is the cost of sending a message.  Another is that there's no compelling reason to use MMS or 3G.  SMS on the other hand, is low-tech and needs no other compelling reason than that it's cheap or free.