AT&T iPhone owners now have another reason to grouse about their choice of carrier. On August 21, AT&T Wireless will double the cost of its only text-messaging plan from $10 to $20 a month. Along with the price increase, the company will also raise the number of text messages included with the plan from 1,000 to unlimited. AT&T will also offer a $30 unlimited family plan that offers unlimited messaging for up to 5 family members. Customers can also choose to go without a text message plan altogether and pay $0.20 per message, or $0.30 per MMS message (text messages with photos/videos).
An AT&T spokesman explained the change to MSNBC:
Starting Aug. 21, we’re streamlining our text messaging plans for new customers and will offer an unlimited plan for individuals for $20 per month and an unlimited plan for families of up to five lines for $30 per month.
The vast majority of our messaging customers prefer unlimited plans and with text messaging growth stronger than ever, that number continues to climb among new customers. Existing customers don’t have to change any messaging plan they have today, even when changing handsets.
In January, AT&T also did away with a $5-a-month plan that included 250 messages. The change will only affect new customers. Current customers can keep their old messaging plans, even if purchasing a new phone.
Some speculate that price increase is AT&T’s way of anticipating a drop in revenue from text messages due to Apple’s upcoming iMessage feature that will allow iPhone owners to send free text messages to each other. Text messages have long been a highly lucrative business for mobile carriers.
