"Initially, when I started looking at this problem at Zenly, we only had one provider. And honestly, when I joined the company, I thought it would be a problem that would be fixed in a couple of months and we could move on. As it turns out, I spent most of the three years I stayed at Zenly on this issue, and we built a team around it."
"You probably don't pay for text messages on your personal phone, but telecom providers still charge companies for those text messages. And if you have a massive user base, SMS verification can become an extremely expensive cost center."
"In late 2023, the Signal Foundation shared its operating budget for its popular messaging app and service; SMS verification codes alone cost $6 million per year. As a comparison, storage, servers, and bandwidth account for $7 million per year altogether."
"When you request a verification code, the request is passed around several phone carriers and various intermediaries across multiple countries. This patchwork means that it can take a bit of time before you receive the verification code - when it doesn't fail completely."
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