SMS updates gone for Aussie twitterers

Australian and European users of Twitter can no longer receive text message updates on their mobile phones, in a temporary move designed to keep the start-up's telecom bills down.

Twitterers can still use the UK number, +44 762 480 1423, to send updates to the site. But that number will no longer deliver text-message updates back to users, and recommends that they use the Twitter mobile site or a third-party client like TwitterBerry, Twitterrific, TwitterMail, or Cellity.

Australian users had been using the UK number and complained on Twitter's blog about the problem. "Thanks for making Twitter 90 per cent less useful to a lot of Australian twitter users," wrote one angry user.

"Australia is kinda annoyed at the moment," wrote another. In reaction, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone wrote that the start-up would work to replace the service in Australia.

"When you send one message to Twitter and we send it to 10 followers, you aren't charged 10 times; that's because we've been footing the bill," a post on Twitter's blog explained further about the problem. "When we launched our free SMS service to the world, we set the clock ticking. As the service grew in popularity, so too would the price."

The company has managed to find "sustainable" text-message billing agreements in the US, Canada and India, the other three countries in which Twitter has enabled SMS updates, so those countries will not be affected by the change. The blog post explained that Twitter is continuing to negotiate with mobile operators to make it possible for SMS numbers to exist around the world, but hasn't gotten there yet.

"Even with a limit of 250 messages received per week, it could cost Twitter about US$1,000 per user, per year to send SMS outside of Canada, India, or the US," the post explained. "It makes more sense for us to establish fair billing arrangements with mobile operators than it does to pass these high fees on to our users."