Advertisers Offering Free SMS Service

The Czech Republic's Eurotel Praha has launched a service that allows SMS's to be sent for free. The messages will be funded by advertising. Sponsors will cover operating costs in exchange for including product and service promotions within the SMS messages. Until the end of May, Eurotel will allow non-profit organizations to include their messages for free.

"Almost all of us watch private TV channels on a regular basis without having to pay any fees, " says Garrison Macri, Eurotel's chief commercial officer. "The costs of producing and broadcasting commercial television programs are paid for by earnings from advertising. We're applying that same model so we can maintain SMS sending from the Internet at no charge. This is necessary as the costs associated with the service are growing. We think the sponsored Internet gateway is the best option for providing customers with free email and online SMS."

The body of the message may be up to 60 characters long, as the remaining 100 characters are used for the sponsor's message. SMS messages will begin with the message for the recipient and will be followed by the sponsor's message."

Posted to the site on 10th March 2003