Texting to North America ...

So, it appears that I can send a text (SMS, that is) to Canada for $0.25 ... actually I can probably text to anywhere in the world for 25 cents, since Lynn has sent them to India and I to NZ. That's pretty good value. I wonder how long the delivery takes. I don't remember anyone using the SMS service when I was back in Canada, but then our household was anti-cell phones at that point (well, *I* was anti-cell and Lynn was adversely influenced by me). Anyways, if anyone actually uses SMS back home, let me know and I'll add you to my phonebook. In Australia, the person calling/texting always pays (i.e. costs nothing to receive). I don't remember that being true back home. Is it?