How text messages are counted

Texts come out of the same plan minutes as calls and WhatsApp. Carriers bill a text per segment: up to 160 characters is one segment, longer texts are split into segments of 153 characters, and a single emoji or special letter (such as ж, 你 or a curly quote) makes the whole text 70 characters a segment instead. Carriers also bill received texts, so segments you send and segments you receive both count. One segment uses about a tenth of a plan minute: its price divided by your plan's per-minute rate, the same way a WhatsApp message is counted. While your plan minutes last a text costs no credit. After that each segment is charged from your prepaid credit, and texts stop when both are used up. A text that is refused or fails to send is not charged. Billing shows the segments and minutes used this period, and Call rates has a calculator for a month of texting.