Just wondering here,
What differentiates "unlimited" texting from "unlimited" data?
/s
An ATT marketing manager on the fast track.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
AT&T Eliminating $10 Text Messaging Plan for New Customers
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
An ATT marketing manager on the fast track.
Most of the people I text, minus a few, already have iPhones, some of which already on iOS 5, so I have already started iMessaging. I just dropped down to the 1000 messages a month plan from unlimited and I'll be happy to save $10 a month. Sad that AT&T would make such a greedy move though.
im from Canada, we dont pay what AT&T pay and we have 10% of the US population,
in Canada unlimited SMS is included in data plan,
$7 for unlimited on a dumbphone
Any idea what the average wage of an individual that can afford a cellphone is in India? Sure, they have a billion people, but their average wealth is nowhere near that of other industrialized nations.
Text messaging is cheap in India because not a lot of people even use Smartphones. They use text messaging for everything, including paying bills from person to person. It's a part of the infrastructure in a way that only a teenage American could truly compare to.
I agree that text messaging is price gouging in America. No doubt. And India probably does reflect actual costs. But I'd expect costs to be a little more in America when normalized.
Because we let them engage in collusion and price fixing. Welcome to the oligopoly of US cell service. What choice do you have when there are only two national providers? The FCC is reluctant to push any regulation because Americans seem to have this idea that laws that encourage competition are somehow "job killers" when its actually the exact opposite, just listen to anyone currently running for president.
Why can't I buy whatever phone I want and then choose between 4-5 providers? I should be able to carry chips for every single provider with me and just use the one that gets the best coverage for where I am at the time. Of course the providers don't want that, then they would actually have to compete with each other on price and quality of service. They paid a lot of money to the FCC in the form of "spectrum auctions" to make sure that doesn't happen, and we all lose.
Last edited:
Not likely.
Apple will never release this mythical "Budget" iPhone , It would cheapen the brand.
$20 a month "just" for texting is crazy. I pay about that for unlimited texting, unlimited data, and limited voice minutes per month. Granted, I don't have an iPhone but I do have a new Android phone. There's no reason to pay that much for texting; you can do it for free on the iPhone or any Android phone.
At the end of the day, Apple is a business, with a quench for money.
They could make a good quality, budget mobile, with lower specs.
Yeah, usually is is an option one has to enable. The downside is in the states it would cost you double as I believe (if it is turned on) it sends you an SMS to let you know your message was delivered. Plus it isn't guaranteed to work across carriers. Much like how email read receipts isn't something that is widely supported.
it appears that AT&T did have it enabled at one point. But disabled it due to the extra load.
Last edited:
No, the useless ***** government cannot improve things in the private sector, they can only ruin. Just because you want everything for nothing and get mad when you can't have it, doesn't mean you call the government to fix everything.
1. FCC has no business regulating anything that AT&T does, business wise.
2. They couldn't fix things for consumers if they tried...the best they could do is make things worse.
3. AT&T is still slime...but your solution is no solution at all.
I personally wouldn't like that feature. You would get an SMS saying that they read your SMS, along with an SMS reply from them..
You nailed it. I still have the $5 per month for 200 messages for both our family phones and intend to keep that when iMessage comes around. Right now we use about 220 messages per month, but I have not upgraded because I know that iMessage is going to fix that for me since most of my texts are to my wife.
AT&T is doing nothing to keep their customers though. Nickel and dime is not what people want. What we want is a plan that includes texting and voice and data. If they were to charge $30 per month for 2GB data and 500 text messages I don't think folks would object. They would get $5 per month from everybody (not just those who sign up for text messaging) and their customers would feel like they were not getting dinged for every stupid little feature.
Still waiting for them to charge us per distinct phone number we call during the month. Call 100 different numbers for $X per month or 1000 different numbers for $Y per month. Oh crap.... I hope AT&T is not reading this.
Yeah that is how I am being told it worked. I personally have never used it (iPhone never supported it even when AT&T had it enabled).
Even tho I'm up in Canada, phone companies are always the ones that screw the people over with their nasty plans!!
Holy ****, you guys pay a fortune for your communication. I get 3000 texts included in my contract that cost an equivavlent of $5 (no data included, voice is charged by the minute, but very low) and I'm pretty sure practically all contracts on all carriers here includes atleast 1000 texts
Works flawlessly for me, my S-E handles it good, it recognizes the receipt and instead of showing it as a SMS just places a checkmark on the sent SMS. Not many phones does it this way, for some reason
Works flawlessly for me, my S-E handles it good, it recognizes the receipt and instead of showing it as a SMS just places a checkmark on the sent SMS. Not many phones does it this way, for some reason
You're correct about the FCC, here's a quote from their website:
"The FCC does not regulate contractual arrangements with cellular providers, but does handle complaints about wireless service." But just because they don't regulate it now, it doesn't mean they shouldn't.
Your statement of a consumer "wanting everything for nothing" shows nothing but snobby attitude. He himself states his desire to pay $70 monthly for a "fairer" service. That is not "everything for nothing." It's perhaps the desire to pay a "fair" amount for a service, and not be overcharged for it. Who's to stop ATT from charging consumers $5.00 for accessing netflix monthly? As of 2010, FCC rulings allow mobile service providers, but not home ISPs, to do as they wish. Regulation is not the end of the world.
$20 just for texting alone!? ******* YOU AT&T and everyone else that wants to charge $20 just for texting! Then $30 for data, another $15-$45 for tethering....thats almost $100 without even adding ability to talk hahaha.......ok I'm don't venting going to pay my AT&T bill now 
Can you still do this? I tried and was told that either I needed a play or would be charged per text. I can of course control text messages I send out, but not those who send to me because they just send it to my cell number.
Well as much as I hate charging for texting, there is quite a lot overhead. The cost of building and keeping the infrastructure. Sure you can break it down to the cost per bit, but that's really ridiculous. What if people quit making calls on AT&T and were messaging free all the time and only having a 10min/month data plan? AT&T would have to raise per minute costs on the phone calls to make up the difference in revenue. In the end, they are providing a service for a fee and as long as there is competition the free market will determine what is a fair price. There are other options. There is nothing illegal. What is illegal is price fixing. The carriers have been or still are being investigated for why multiple carriers raised their per text rate from 10cents to 20 at roughly the same time. And what should also be illegal is charging for receiving texts. Since I don't have a text plan, someone with unlimited texts could maliciously text me over and over charging me quite a bit of money before I could put a stop to it or be refunded, etc. Shouldn't have to be guilty until innocent.