Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus $3B in RSUs

Re:Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus ... by xerophtye on Thursday February 20, 2014 @02:06AM (#7269358)

>WhatsApp is a lot bigger overseas than it is in the US (largely because it's a free alternative to SMS in countries where SMS carries significant charges).

Not nitpicking here, just genuinely curious. What do they charge in US for sms? Here the cheapest package i suppose would be 20,000 SMS per month for $1 per month. I normally use the 1200 SMS per week for 10 cents per week though, as my usage isn't that much.

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Re:Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus ... by usaar333 on Thursday February 20, 2014 @03:55AM (#7269723)

At this point, I think it's effectively free on every major carrier when the customer has a data plan. I haven't had limits on SMS for at least 4 years (been on Sprint and Verizon).

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Re:Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus ... by xerophtye on Thursday February 20, 2014 @04:40AM (#7269883)

So how much do you pay per month to a carrier?

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Re:Facebook Buying WhatsApp for $16B in Cash and Stock Plus ... by ojii on Thursday February 20, 2014 @05:56AM (#7270120)

likely a reason WhatsApp is popular in Europe (or at least Switzerland) is that one is likely to have friends in other countries, and international SMS are a rip-off. At least that's why I use LINE/gtalk/fb messenges a lot these days, as they don't care about where people live/are.

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