A standard text message has a maximum of 160 characters. But, you can send longer messages! The problem is that if your long message exceeds the character limit then it will be sent as multiple texts and not all in one single text like before. This means instead of being charged for just 1 text they are now charged per each part - which creates more charges than anticipated! The total SMS limit becomes 153 characters because there are 7 invisible headers with footers at the end to distinguish between parts (i.e Part 1 out of 2)