I never really checked the terms and conditions of the free twitter
updates Vodafone offered their customers. Looking at them now, it
seems that they always have been for a limited time only. This smells
dubiously of Drug Pusher tactics, where your first few doses are free,
but you are hooked afterwards.
 
People are already complaining on Twitter about the Vodafone change,
which was announced via SMS this afternoon. I would not be surprised
if vodafone is a trending topic sometime today.
 
From 18 August 2009 updating your twitter status via sms will cost you
the same as your standard sms charge. Receiving tweets by sms to your
phone will still be free. For how long, is unclear though. I can see
Vodafone make quite a few bucks from all the teens who send their
tweets from their pay-as-you-go mobiles, where you still have to pay
for every single sms you send.