AT&T Kills Low-Tier Text Messaging Plan, Pushes Unlimited Usage

AT&T has confirmed that it’s killing off a text messaging fee plan that allows up to 1000 messages per month, nudging customers to an unlimited plan or fees for every message.

Starting August 21, your choice of AT&T SMS plans are either 20 cents for every text message sent or received, or $20 per month for individuals and $30 per month for families of up to five lines.

If you’re not a callous-thumbed teen sending between 3000 and 22,795 text messages every month, mangling the English language while driving, and want to keep your existing 1000 texts plan, AT&T will grandfather you in at the same $10 per month rate. It’s a benevolent gesture rare among carriers, although AT&T did it previously with its now-extinct unlimited smartphone data plan.

But that fee-per-text plan is considerably less than benevolent, and it’s not limited to AT&T. If a text message is limited to 160 bytes, and each text costs 20 cents, that means AT&T has an SMS data transfer charge of $1310.72 per megabyte. Conclusion? Be thankful for unlimited texting plans – just what AT&T intends.