...text messages are not just tiny; they are also free riders, tucked into what’s called a control channel, space reserved for operation of the wireless network.

That’s why a message is so limited in length: it must not exceed the length of the message used for internal communication between tower and handset to set up a call. The channel uses space whether or not a text message is inserted.

Professor Keshav said that once a carrier invests in the centralized storage equipment — storing a terabyte now costs only $100 and is dropping — and the staff to maintain it, its costs are basically covered. “Operating costs are relatively insensitive to volume,” he said. “It doesn’t cost the carrier much more to transmit a hundred million messages than a million.”

RAMd®d wrote: ...Knowing the cost of production can and sometimes *does* affect the buyer's perception of value and purchasing decision.

The seller then has to decide if that decision on the part of the buyer is significant enough to affect the asking price, or does it need to be adjusted.

Several factors can sway the balance of sellerss and purchasers' power.

Knowledge can be power in its own right.

All part of Econ 101.