Another Way Carriers Screw You: Texting

You're right, I shouldn't generalize (..or live in the past either ). True, many EU operators are now switching to the "All u can eat" model as well. But I beleive that has been the model in the US for about the last ~10 years or so (someone correct me if I'm way off),

 

I was underplaying it actually. The standard contract is £35/month for 18 months and gives you the minutes and texts I mentioned, but they will also sometimes throw in other things e.g. unlimited landline calls, inclusive data, etc. If you opt for a cheap handset they will also frequently throw in gifts e.g. PS3, TV, flights, money, laptop, etc. They are much better than they used to be, but moving forward one wonders how much more they can give.

 

Well for voice calls, it's only been about 2-3 years for plans offering any unlimited voice (like My Circle or My Faves),
Also, AT&T, Verizon, & T-Mobile came out with their "Unlimited for $99" on the same day,
I think this was a bit more than a year ago. Sprint's unlimited came 2 weeks later.

But yeah, texting has actually increased in price over the last few years (from 10 to 20 cents on most carriers)
and unlimited text/MMS has also increased (anywhere from $10 - $20).
Family plans on most carriers have the better bargain for unlimited texting here in the US.

But on my Alltel plan, $60 (plus tax) gets me 11 Numbers to call for free (10 + 1 bonus number for going 2 years),
plus your Caller ID, 3-Way & Voicemail.
And that's really all I use my phone for, anywhere from 7,000 to 12,000 minutes per month.
Unlimited text / MMS on Alltel's plans are $20 per month, per line - one of the most expensive.

I Never Text, I only use Email on my computer to send Pix & Text to other's cell phones, like 10 messages per month.
Since Email is free on the computer, I use that instead.

You just have to know the address to send text messages from email.
(for example, Number@tmomail.net or Number@message.alltel.com)

 

I can't see how they are screwing me over. It's just what you pay for. If some people do not agree with it, then they should go with a prepaid plan and not go forth with the texting fee if its that much of a hassle.

 

Do American networks give free text messages with PAYG deals?

 

Not as far as I know - at least at&t does not. PayGo on at&t is a bucket of money, and then you spend that for whatever services you choose. If you purchase a feature plan (messages or data) - you purchase it from the account balance you have on hand.

Of course it does depend on your own usage, and before at&t introduced the feature packages for prepaid service, each time I looked at mine, it really was basically a push between paying for the voice/messaging/data "packages" on a post paid basis vs. the "pay per use" messaging/data fees on prepaid.

Once they introduced the feature plans for prepaid service it became far more economical to consider prepaid service for a very light voice user - because the feature plans are priced very competitively (almost consistently) between postpaid vs. prepaid. (So you aren't required to spend $40/month on a post paid voice plan that you never use just to have access to the messaging and data plans, although this has changed again somewhat since at&t has terminated the unlimited MediaNet plans for prepaid service.)

My main point of contention re: the use of prepaid however is that you don't have full access to the network. There is no or only very limited roaming ability. (And then the PayGo balance notification messages are yet another story. lol. )

 

I like how people look at the cost of making or doing something and presume that's the only cost to doing business. No one takes into account that a company is paying employees, rents, R&D, maintenance, lawyers, advertising, insurance, etc. There are a lot more ways that a business has to spend money than they do to make it.

 

I understand your point but they have those costs anyway. And some smaller PCS carriers do not charge extra for it.