I am not sure how true this is but I remember reading an article about SMS and initially it was designed for network operators to send diagnostic information. It was designed to use the same transport as signalling - when no signalling information was being sent - you could send a SMS - so essentially was free for the operator to provide.
In the beginning it was thought that only technicians would utilize SMS messaging [0]? The 'public' would all be using pagers to get their text. Turned out to be the opposite. And a nice markup on each SMS sent still lines the coffers for the operators.
In the beginning it was thought that only technicians would utilize SMS messaging [0]? The 'public' would all be using pagers to get their text. Turned out to be the opposite. And a nice markup on each SMS sent still lines the coffers for the operators.
0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Message_Service#Initial_...