One of Wisconsin's U.S. Senators wants to know why it's costing cell phone users more to send text messages.
Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) says more than one trillion text messages were sent last year using cell phones, and the growing popularity has resulted in many phone companies doubling their prices in the last two years. He says most major provides doubled their rates from 10 to 20 cents between 2006 and 2008.
Kohl recently held a hearing on Capitol Hill with executives from major cell phone providers, such as Verizon and AT&T. He wanted to know why prices were going up, even though the cost of handling text messages had not increased. He says there was no indication of collusion between providers.
However, Kohl is worried about a lack of competition in the industry. Four companies alone control 90-percent of the U.S. market, with Verizon and AT&T controlling 60-percent on their own.
Kohl says the federal government needs to encourage more competition in the cell phone industry so consumers don't get gouged. He says current conditions aren't the healthiest.
