US senator asks for explanation of rising text costs

Senator Herb Kohl, who chairs the Antitrust Subcommittee in the US Senate Judiciary Committee, has written to AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile asking why the cost of sending a text has doubled in the last three years from 10 to 20 cents. He's particularly concerned because these networks - responsible for 90% of mobile customers in the USA - all appear to have increased their charges at roughly the same rate - whilst consolidation has reduced competition. [Sources: Press release; The Register.co.uk; eWeek.com; InformationWeek.com]