“AT&T will be eliminating its $10/month texting plan offering 1000 text messages, leaving the carrier’s unlimited texting plan for $20/month as the only option for new customers,” Eric Slivka reports for MacRumors.
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“An AT&T spokesperson confirmed that the change is coming on August 21st and that existing customers can keep their current texting plans, even when upgrading devices,” Slivka reports. “Just this past January, AT&T dropped its texting plan options from three to two by eliminating its $5/200 text and $15/1500 text plans and replacing them with the $10 plan offering 1000 texts.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
1st comment! Yay!
But you didn’t actually make a comment…
‘Yay!” is his comment. Happy about the text rate increase.
SMS is so 20th century, and has been a ripoff since the advent of internet for mobile phones. Imagine: 10¢ for 256 bytes (=$400/MB=$400’000/GB !), while a decent data plan is $15/GB, that’s 25’000 times more expensive.
Times have changed. Any workable chat arrangement via the internet could easily obliterate the carriers’ sms business.
Haha…dangling a carrot for iPhone 5 switchers from Verizon…
iMessage? 😉
You’re right. That’s absolutely why they’re doing this. They know people will use less text messages once iOS 5 is released, and they’re trying to secure a larger income stream to offset it. I really hope that the T-Mobile buyout isn’t approved.
I really hope that the T-Mobile buyout isn’t approved.
That’s right, because if Apple buys Sprint, we’d have a Mexican standoff.
Each of them staring each other down, minds chewing through bandwidth, until finally, each one of them arrives at the same conclusion.
Cellular is dead. Long live Light Peak.
I hope the merger happens. I, for one, need a less clogged up data connection for Internet. You know, for when I’m not at the house. Idiot
Yeah, right. Let’s all go back to the Eighties when there was only one phone company!
Idiot?
Dick.
So, for the occasional texter, the cost just went from $5 to $20.
Nice
A side-benefit is finger cancer.
I never see AT&T bringing more value to the table lately. It’s always about taking away features and increasing prices.
I have found the opposite to be true. My family signed up for the unlimited texting a while ago because that was the best value for us. Then when unlimited mobile to mobile on any network came out, we jumped on that! Cut my monthly bill by $50 bucks because we didn’t need as many minutes. I love AT&T. I love getting more features for less money!!
People don’t understand the $20 unlimited texting includes unlimited cell to cell minutes also… Cuts the total minutes used, so one can go to a smaller calling plan if they call mobile numbers more than land numbers (who doesn’t?)
The jump for me to $20 from the $15 plan I had.. Saved me money also.
I guess they feel the T-Mobile government blessed monopoly…err hmm hmm free market enhancing purchase is a done deal. Now that T-Mobile has been eliminated as a competing 4g provider AT&T takes one more step to returning to the good ole days. Get ready for big beige Western Electric smart phones….
just my $0.02
I have not yet moved to the iPhone but was seriously considering it on AT&T. Now I will consider Verizon. or hold off. I do NOT do $5.00 a month texting, much less $20.00.
There are plenty of texting apps that are free. Also, if you don’t text much, then paying by the text may be an option.
with iMessage, you can pretty much totally text for free. 🙂
I’m one of those occasional texters that’s thankfully grandfathered in on the $5/mo plan.
Yet I always found it to be a BS charge anyway – texting is data and should be included in the data plan.
iMessage will hopefully end texting all-together. Now if they could just merge iMessage and iChat.
Texting is not even data.
SMS are sent in inter-block timing gaps in the mobile phone data stream. That capacity was originally wasted until SMS was devised. Since then it has become popular, and carriers are gouging the customers to use something that used to go idle.
Kind of like banks – when ATMs were introduced, banks loved them because they cost a LOT less than human tellers. They became so popular, banks decided to rape their customers by charging to use something that was actually saving them money. (And the banks claiming network costs, etc. costing them are just so many lies.)
Text messages are free for the operators so selling them for the customers is very lucrative business.
It’s like selling air without even having to bottle it.
Maybe Apple’s ultimate goal is to drive all the telecoms into the ground and snatch up all their “dumb pipes” at some point in the future when LTE is completely built out.
We all know how Apple hates to reply on anyone else for anything.
I certainly hate to REPLY on anyone!
You don’t have to buy a text plan from them at all. They tried hard to push one on me, but I said no. There are many apps providing free texting. TextFree app works fine for me.
AT&T is getting ready for all those new T-Mobile suc.. err, new customers. But don’t hate AT&T, after all it as much Apples fault for only carrying the iPhone on AT&T for has long has it had and our own insatiable personal need to have that iPhone.
Ding ding ding! Stupidest comment of the day goes to; bjr001!
Numbnutts? Why is it that everyone on planet Earth (you being excluded, of course) remembers that Verizon initially said “NO!” to Apple when Apple approached them with the iPhone?
I mean, after all, it’s common knowledge and easily looked up.
A text message is not the same ad data ib your data. It ip-less but an entire text message fits in one packet that is why they have to bebop small or be split up (iPhone does this behind the scenes)
MMS is different but can be data or can be separate packets depending on the provide.
One Data packet consists of several phone comm packets due to size mismatches. But that means that SMS and MMS use LESS data than a data packet. If for mo other reason, because the SMS and MMS packets aren’t encapsulated inside an IP packet.
All in all, it’s all data. But I like to think of it as packets because these are what is really happening. IP packets must be encapsulated into your GSM packets to BW sent to your phone but SMS packets are encapsayed as they are already GSM packets.
So ultimately, txt messaging is the most expensive packet sent over the cellular network. The cell to cell voice packets are free. Txt message is cell to cell packets they should be treated the same.
…”texting is data and should be included in the data plan.”
Actually, technically, texting is voice, as it goes over the voice network, and not over the data segment. This is why you can send and receive text messages even when you are completely outside of any data coverage (EDGE or 3G).
Which means texting should be free, or part of the voice plan. In most parts of the world, 1 minute of voice equals 1 text message. Even in America, there is a T-Mobile’s prepaid plan with the same deal (1500 mins/texts per month for $30).
Texting charges and monthly plans are by far the greatest rip-off carriers have been perpetrating on American consumers.
If people want it and are willing to pay, then charge for it. If they become dependent on it, charge more.
Why are you complaining, it’s the American way! Free markets and lack of government intervention in cell services will ensure consumers get the best deal in the end.
/sarcasm
Assholes.
So if the ATT merger with T-Mobile is approved, what does that mean for the 50 Free Texts I receive each month for being a Loyal Customer (but never used)?
Isn’t a text message way, way less stuff (band width x time) than a minute of voice? Shouldn’t a text message be very inexpensive?
Texting is way too expensive! $240/year or FREE with TextNow or TextFree apps?!! Hmmm! Tough choice!
SMS: The dying cash cow for wireless carriers?
http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/special-reports/sms-dying-cash-cow-wireless-carriers
Excellent web site and solid information on all things mobile.
In the UK, I am on pay as you go, I pay £10 per month and get:
UNLIMITED TEXT
UNLIMITED DATA (No Cap – Use on average about 8GB)
250 MINUTES
Bastages! More reason NOT to approve T-mobile merger