Just a thought for some of the ATT lovers. When it comes to txt messages, they can be sent out while on a phone call at VZW. I send txt messages out while on the phone all the time on the Verizon network. So, when arguing no simultaneous usage of voice and data on the Verizon Network, it would be best to be specific about what the network cannot do.
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AT&T Simplifying Texting Plans, Enlisting Best Buy in Battle Against Verizon iPhone
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wat
you PAY to RECIEVE text messages? is this usual in America?
i don't even think that is legal in my country.
Yes.
In America, competition doesn't drive prices down, it drives them up, because carriers can change prices without worrying about losing customers, because most customers are locked into family plans with multiple contract end dates, so switching carriers is a difficult and costly proposition. Once one carrier does it, all of the others follow.
Examples:
-Sprint changed stand-alone (without a plan) texts to $.20
All other carriers followed.
-AT&T raised ETF's. Verizon (at least) followed.
-Verizon gets rid of their New Every Two plan, which allowed the main line to upgrade after 13 months, or gave a discount of up to $100 in addition to the subsidized price after the standard 20 months. Today, AT&T did the same.
Edit:
To add insult to injury, I just checked my Verizon bill and Verizon charges a surcharge not included in the main monthly access for
"Verizon Wireless' Surcharges include charges to recover or help defray costs of taxes and of governmental charges and fees imposed on us, including a Regulatory Charge (which helps defray costs of various regulatory mandates, including government number administration and license fees) and a Federal Universal Service Charge (and, if applicable, a State Universal Service Charge) to recover costs imposed on us by the government to support universal service, and may include other charges also related to our governmental costs. It also includes an Administrative Charge, which helps defray certain costs we incur, currently including (i) charges we, or our agents, pay local telephone companies for delivering calls from our customers to their customers, (ii) fees and assessments on network facilities and service, and (iii) certain costs and charges associated with proceedings related to new cell site construction. Please note that these are Verizon Wireless charges, not taxes. These charges, and what's included, are subject to change from time to time."
IN ADDITION TO THE REGULAR FEDERAL TAX SURCHARGE. Why do I have to pay a separate surcharge to "defray the cost of taxes" or help build new towers? What am I paying for then???
When I spoke to AT&T a month and a half ago, she was describing how they will be deploying a new option as many customers were requesting this. I opted for the 1500/$15 plan since I use more than 200 texts but under 1000. So this new 1000/$10 is a great addition. I'll be switching to this. Now if I can only get 1gb for $10, I'll be a happy camper. Again 200mb is not enough as I found out first month and had to upgrade to the outrageous 2gb for $25 which basically is too much. Unless we get free tethering in 4.3 update 
It's stuff like this that has kept me from getting an iPhone (and some other newer devices).
People may laugh, but I'm still on T-Mobile's Unlimited Data Sidekick plan (with unlimited txt messaging). With a voice plan, the unlimited data/txt portion is only $20/month (since I'm grandfathered on their old plan - newer customers pay $25 or $35/month).
Paying $10/month just for 1000 txts is just baffling. People complain about an app costing $1.99 but have no problems paying $120/year for txting?
People may laugh, but I'm still on T-Mobile's Unlimited Data Sidekick plan (with unlimited txt messaging). With a voice plan, the unlimited data/txt portion is only $20/month (since I'm grandfathered on their old plan - newer customers pay $25 or $35/month).
Paying $10/month just for 1000 txts is just baffling. People complain about an app costing $1.99 but have no problems paying $120/year for txting?
No there aren't. By the time there are only 3 competitors in a massive multi billion dollar industry like cellular service, they are able and likely to utilize anticompetitive marketing strategies and government lobbying to protect themselves and their profit margins. Things that they couldn't have done if they were smaller and lower proportions of the market.
This is why European regulations force network operators to wholesale access to MVNOs at competitive rates, and in turn this is why Europeans spend half as much each month on cell service that is at least as good as we get in the US.
What most people in America don't understand is that a lot of what is presented to us as "competition" is actually fake. Take AT&T and Verizon as great examples of this phenomenon: they each control about 35% of the market, which is close to the maximum that is realistic for any single brand.
How do they "compete"? Are there lots of dealers competing to sell you phones for their networks at the best price? NO, AT&T and VZW control the 3rd party handset sales business and make sure that nobody is offering a significantly lower price than their own corporate retail locations. And if AT&T or VZW want to open corporate retailers in a new region, they'll probably do whatever they can get away with to drive the third party retailers out of business.
Do they compete on service prices? NO. If you look at their prices, every single component of your service plan has the exact same prices on both AT&T and VZW. Same exact offerings on individual and family plans with the same exact features at the same exact prices. Even the add-ons like text and data are the exact same or functionally the exact same.
So how do they compete? Mostly they compete by offering varying deals on new desirable handsets to lure you in to one of their insanely priced 2 year contract commitments like a pedophile with candy. AT&T shelled out to get the iPhone exclusivity deal (which prevents price competition on iPhone service) and VZW will variously offer deals on desirable android phones. Hooray (/sarcasm). I would much rather pay full price in a healthy and competitive market for unlocked handsets and then shop for service in a healthy and competitive market for service.
Oh yeah! I have texting blocked on my present phone and no way I'm paying extra for it on my VZ iPhone when I get it.
You want me to pay extra to send a few bytes of text when I can email and talk all I want included in the plan? I can't understand why people pay it.
My oldest in college (senior) averages over 5,000 a month. Always under 100 min talk. We have 2 iPhone 4's and 2 3GS' on a Family Talk plan. Between the 4 lines we average close 10,000 texts a month between 5 states.
I am proud to be the user with the most minutes used and fewest texts every month!
We get our $30 worth.
Huh, I just started getting "We have 4G on the way" ads from AT&T last week. Not sure their obsolesense argument holds. I replied with a suggestion that they get their 3G network functioning first, but it bounced...
Speaking of 4G, the phone the woman is holding in the T-Mobile banner ad I just saw is freakin' huge! Bigger 'n her head!
Speaking of 4G, the phone the woman is holding in the T-Mobile banner ad I just saw is freakin' huge! Bigger 'n her head!
The T-Mobile and Sprint ads on this page are tempting. There is great Sprint service around the places I frequent. -ponders-
Not sure about that...... Between the 4 lines we average close 10,000 texts a month between 5 states.
...
We get our $30 worth.
10,000 texts, maximum of 140 bytes each-- you're paying $30 for about 1.4 MB. Not 1.4 MB/sec, but 1.4 MB/month.
AT&T will give you more than 1000 times that amount of data for $25, and you can use that 2GB anyway you want. Text, pictures, web...
Guess it depends on the definition of "worth".
I work at a Target with a Target Mobile kiosk... our sales associate there says that only actual Verizon stores can sell the Verizon iPhone for the first 90 days I think... they won't have the same lockout when the iPhone 5 comes out this summer, but it's interesting that they're barred from selling the current device.
Don't know what part of rural America you are in, but it is not AZ! AT&T SUX!!!!
2G, crap, try no G! Smoke signals are more effective! That or carrier pigeons!
Your monthly payment takes care of your constant connection to the tower and your calls / data through them. The total depends on how much you use those things (or have prepaid for).
The other fees are there whether you make calls or not, since the towers themselves have to be built for you to even sit idle on, and your helpful local and state and federal government have decided it's fun to levy taxes and fees on the phone company... some of which they cheerfully pass back to you, as allowed by the same governing authorities.
The "good" fees are the Universal Service Charges, which have been around for almost a century, and exist because the government mandates that utilities must give service to low population rural areas. Fed law allows them to ask you to help pay for that rather expensive setup.
Verizon will sell more iPhones in 2011 than all 4G smart-phones phones combined. Unless of course the iPhone 5 were to support 4G...
Who are these people that think texting is for teenagers. I am 39 years old and average over 1000 texts a month, sometimes a lot more. 2/3s of my texts are work related...
Really so how high is the cap on roll-over minutes on Verizon. What! They don't have roll-over minutes. How can that be, a tuna told me Verizon and AT&T offered the exact same service for the exact same price. We could also talk about data plans, but I think I will just let it go..
We had some 8400 on our AT&T family plan two months ago, one of the kids broke 5k. If we had 84000 our price would be the same. (Depending of course an AT&Ts real definition of unlimited).
Yeah, been there, done that.
We now pay $30/month (three lines with texting at $10/month) for what we could get perfectly free by just talking. Or emailing, for two of those lines which have unlimited data.
Sigh. The teenagers always win in the end. Might as well get used to it
Who are these people that think texting is for teenagers. I am 39 years old and average over 1000 texts a month, sometimes a lot more. 2/3s of my texts are work related...
Really so how high is the cap on roll-over minutes on Verizon. What! They don't have roll-over minutes. How can that be, a tuna told me Verizon and AT&T offered the exact same service for the exact same price. We could also talk about data plans, but I think I will just let it go..
We had some 8400 on our AT&T family plan two months ago, one of the kids broke 5k. If we had 84000 our price would be the same. (Depending of course an AT&Ts real definition of unlimited).
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$10 for 1000 texts isnt that bad...nicer if it was free, but I'll be switching down from 1500 a month and saving 5 bucks.