Via VentureBeat comes news that Twitter will no longer be sending SMS updates to Canadians. This, after multiple "unexpected changes in [Twitter's] billing" (read: costs paid to service providers consistently doubling). Incoming messages via the 21212 short code still work, but it probably won't be too long before that gets switched off, too.

This isn't surprising at all. After all, the only mobile service providers in Canada that really matter (Bell, Rogers, and Telus) have a long and proud history of being telecom robber barons. Not too many parts of the world can boast a better record of screwing over customers and then making them clean up the mess afterward. It's more surprising that Twitter stuck with it as long as they did.

With the text fee debacle a few months back, and the almost criminal way data plans are run in this country, who knows what further problems we'll see pouring out from these service providers. Best advice for any Canadian wanting a mobile phone and data plan: Go to the US and get one there. Even with roaming, it'll still probably cost less.

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