The Justice Department has closed an investigation into whether cell phone companies colluded in setting text-message rates, the Wall Street Journal reported today.
AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile were told that the government has no plans to take action, the WSJ said.
Last year, antitrust subcommittee chair Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.) held a hearing on the rise of text messaging prices.
The four companies increased their text messaging prices from 10 to 15 cents, and then from 15 to 20 cents, within weeks of each other, according to a press release at the time.
“The lockstep price increases occurred despite the fact that the cost to the phone companies to carry text messages is minimal, estimated to be less than a penny per message, and has not increased,” the statement said.
