AT&T rolls out unlimited M2M texting for $5

by Chris Ziegler, posted Mar 4th 2007 at 7:43PM

Not to be outdone by fellow megacarrier Verizon, AT&T's pulling out all the SMS stops this week, too. A new option available on all messaging plans adds unlimited mobile-to-mobile texting for an extra five bones, bring the total cost of the 200, 400, 1000, and 3000 message plans to $10, $15, $20, and $25, respectively. As with Verizon's $20 deal, we'd be a little concerned about the long-term health of our thumbs, but if they're gonna stop functioning, they may as well go out in a blaze of picture message glory.

[Thanks, Will]

Filed under: Messaging, ATT

Tags: cingular

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Neutral

elgee02 @ Mar 4th 2007 8:11PM

Between Cingy/AT&T and VZW, the latter has by far the better messaging offer if your guy's info is correct. Let's compare what your money gets you with each carrier shall we?

$5 w/ VZW = 250 total messages
$5 w/ At&T = 200 total messages

$10 w/ VZW = unl. IN + 500 off network
$10 w/ AT&T = unl. M2M + 200 off network

$15 w/ VZW = unl. IN + 1500 off network
$15 w/ AT&T = unl. M2M + 400 off network

$20 w/ VZW = unl. IN + 5000 off network
$20 w/ AT&T = unl. M2M + 1000 off network

And even if you fork over $25 a month with Cingy you still are 2000 shy of what $20 gets you with VZW.

Neutral

Will @ Mar 4th 2007 8:25PM

yes, verizon's deals seem to be a bit better...but you also have to remember that AT&T has about 15 million more customers than Verizon. so when you factor that in, it makes up for the difference

Neutral

marisa @ Jan 29th 2008 6:59PM

i agree

Neutral

Will @ Mar 4th 2007 8:33PM

what i meant to say is that it makes up for most of the difference...obviously not all of it. i do believe that the plans will change again in a few months, they're simply testing the market out to see how much of a market there is for unlimited text and will go from there

Neutral

elgee02 @ Mar 4th 2007 8:48PM

"but you also have to remember that AT&T has about 15 million more customers than Verizon"

WTF?!? Hmm last I checked AT&T has 61 million customers, VZW has 59 million. If you do your math correctly that comes to a T-W-O million customer difference.

Neutral

Will @ Mar 4th 2007 8:59PM

my bad, i was thinkin 49mil for some reason...AT&T is now closing in on 63mil, so it's nearly a 4mil difference

Neutral

Jr @ Mar 4th 2007 9:16PM

AT&T sucks...bullshit on AT&T having 4 million more customers than Verizon. And when Sprint snaps up Alltel, AT&T will be lucky to be #3 (behind Verizon and Sprint).

Neutral

flamer's grill @ Mar 4th 2007 9:23PM

Sprint: $5 for 300 texts, $10 for unlimited. See how easy that is?

Neutral

Jr @ Mar 4th 2007 9:31PM

Sprint used to be $10 - but new plans are $15 for unlimited texting...luckily, I've got the $10 rate grandfathered.

Neutral

Rico @ Mar 4th 2007 9:51PM

Actually with Sprint it's $10 for unlimited and $20 for all lines on a family plan. So HAH!

Neutral

Will @ Mar 4th 2007 9:54PM

sprint wont be snapping up alltel anytime soon, verizon maybe but not sprint....sprint isn't far from bankruptcy because of the nextel deal. i can't imagine they'd have the nerve to try and snatch up alltel. sprint can have all the great deals they want as far as minutes and texting, but if you don't have service in 75% of the country who cares? in the south if you're not along a major highway there is no service...therefore my friend, sprint sux

Neutral

elgee02 @ Mar 4th 2007 9:59PM

And for some silly reason, sprints messaging bundles dont include pix/flix messaging, you gotta ad an EXTRA bundle if you wanna do that... silly.

Neutral

Jr @ Mar 4th 2007 10:01PM

Dumbass...go ahead, show some PROOF that Sprint is near "bankruptcy". How are you claiming a company that turns profits is near "bankrupt"?

As far as the South goes...you inbred hicks don't need celluar phones, because you can't afford them and what's the point when you are dating your sister?

Neutral

flamer's grill @ Mar 4th 2007 10:04PM

"Not far from bankruptcy". Interesting if true. Can you substantiate this claim? Probably not. Sprint should let Alltel buy THEM. I would love to have MyCircle + 7PM nights. Plus, Alltel as a brand name doesn't have the same stigma attached to it that Sprint does.

And yeah, unlimited texting dropped from $15 to $10 on Feb 1 2007, according to this press release:

http://www2.sprint.com/mr/news_dtl.do?id=15300

Neutral

Jr @ Mar 4th 2007 10:10PM

The $10 unlimited is only now for people willing to get a PowerPack plan...and there isn't anything in the "power pack" near my grandfathered plan.

No...the poster claiming Sprint is near bankrupt is full of crap, can't substantiate it, because he just made it up.

But I do agree that 7PM nights/weekends (I actually have grandfathered 6PM nights/weekends) along with MyCircle would be excellent!

Neutral

Will @ Mar 4th 2007 10:17PM

Jr: you're sooo hilarious, u know that? funny how half the population is people from the north...but i refuse to drop to your level. sprint has taken a HUGE hit financially from taking on nextel, just do a little research and you'll find tons of articles about it. verizon will likely be the buyer of alltel as verizon would love to become the largest company in the industry. in fact sprint is being rumored as being sold...check this article out: http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/28/news/companies/Sprint/index.htm

Neutral

Will @ Mar 4th 2007 10:21PM

yeah, i made it all up...read the last paragraph in that article, sprint nextel is $22billion in debt on their balance sheet...$22 BILLION, yet i made it up. thanks for showing your ignorance, next time do a little research before you spout off

Neutral

flamer's grill @ Mar 4th 2007 10:34PM

Look at this:

http://finance.google.com/finance?fstype=bi&cid=664887

Verizon is $28 billion in debt.

http://finance.google.com/finance?fstype=bi&cid=33312

AT&T is $50 billion in debt.

And finally, Sprint:

http://finance.google.com/finance?fstype=bi&cid=656412

Only $21 billion in debt! The lowest of all three!

So... why would they go bankrupt if they have the least debt of the three largest cellular carriers?

Neutral

Will @ Mar 4th 2007 10:39PM

i'm simply restating what is constantly being reported from financial websites...of which they all know a ton more about it than any of us do. dont get me wrong, at&t has more churn than any of the providers...but they're not having to support 2 networks that don't work with each other and having to deal with the customer backlash that it's causing

Neutral

Jr @ Mar 4th 2007 10:44PM

Sure, Will, whatever you say...you seem to leave out a whole lot of facts and you quote these so called experts who know so much more than say, a stockholder in Sprint (and Verizon, too!).

You're simply interpreting things to make it seem like AT&T is allmighty and holier than thou. AT&T sucks ass.

Neutral

Will @ Mar 4th 2007 10:53PM

uh, no...i know that at&t isn't near as good as we could be. our ARPU is far lower than most every other provider...our text plans still aren't as good as they should be, but sprint's network has nothing on at&t's. and yeah i do believe that 99% of the people working for sites such as cnnmoney.com know more than people like you JR, you're nothing but an ignorant northerner that HAS to be right about everything. just remember, at&t is only 1 merger away from dominating cell phones, land lines and tv...sure at&t is in more debt on the balance sheets, but they're worth sooooo much more than sprint will ever be, PERIOD

Neutral

Jr @ Mar 4th 2007 10:56PM

So, how do you explain AT&T having the highest churn rate? You even said the whole Sprint/Nextel merger is causing backlash, yet Stinkular/AT&T still has the highest churn rate?

Sounds like AT&T sucks, no? As a former Stinkular customer ( I actually left after they purchased AT&T wireless, which I was a customer of), I can tell you there simply is no worse a cellular provider on the national level.

Neutral

Andrew Hillman, Andrew Hillman, Andrew Hilllman @ Mar 4th 2007 11:01PM

Unlimited messaging is being given by many carriers even the lost cost carrier MEtroPCS

Neutral

Will @ Mar 4th 2007 11:02PM

churn is something that is being aggressively taken on, it's much of the reason the merger with bellsouth was sooo big. the rate at which at&t's churn rate is improving they will be close to the numbers of other providers by '08. i told you, several times already that at&t is not near the company it could be and there's more to it than just low ARPU and high churn. a lot of it begins with sales reps being underpaid compared to that of other companies, including an upcoming commission cut. as well as customer service reps not being nearly as knowledgeable as they should be...trust me, just because i work for them doesn't mean that i think we're the greatest company ever

Neutral

Jr @ Mar 4th 2007 11:03PM

Because they're making shit up...Sprint is turning a profit, 'nuff said. Debt is irrelevent if they can make payments. As far as doing research...duh, I HAVE. I own Sprint stock, so it isn't as if I'm clueless as to financial situations.

However, it seems like a few of you are, simply spewing a bunch of posturing by supposed experts, that are just speculating on things, and in the case of claiming Sprint is somehow on the verge of bankruptcy, just making things up.

True...the Nextel merger hasn't gone exactly as well as many of us would have liked, but then again, Nextel was maxed out in terms of subscribers and network capacity when Sprint bought them.

However, Sprint isn't in any financial crisis...dumbshits!

Neutral

Jr @ Mar 4th 2007 11:03PM

Sorry, but AT&T won't be allowed any other mergers. It isn't going to happen. However, Sprint and Verizon can and will continue growth.

As far as your "ignorant northerner" remark goes...I suppose if Kentucky is a northern state, then yes, perhaps I am (admittedly, I know KY is considered a border state in the civil war, but KY had two "capitals" in the civil war, Frankfort as the "northern" capital and Bowling Green as the "southern" capital. In fact, Jefferson Davis was born in Kentucky, as was Abraham Lincoln.)

So shut your inbred mouth, Will...you know dick, and your incessant hype of AT&T is just silly.

Neutral

Will @ Mar 4th 2007 11:04PM

but while churn rates are high, at&t is also adding new customers at a much higher pace than companies like sprint are...

Neutral

Will @ Mar 4th 2007 11:07PM

dude, i make a VERY VERY nice living in this industry...i know more about at&t than you ever will. with the start of at&t u-verse and the opportunity for customers to bundle dsl, cell phone, land line and tv all together in 1 bill will only continue to help at&t grow at a pace at which sprint can only dream of

Neutral

Jr @ Mar 4th 2007 11:08PM

Sorry Will...but you're wrong again. Verizon is the company that is adding customer at a phenomenal rate - not Stinkular/AT&T, and not Sprint. As far as Sprint goes...they're adding way too many cusomters to the Boost service - which is something that needs to stop.

That being said...once the iPhone is available, I may end up as a Stinkular/AT&T customer once again...but I still see no reason to rid Sprint and/or Verizon holdings I have.

Neutral

Jr @ Mar 4th 2007 11:12PM

Pfft...ok, so your minimum wage job selling cellular phones is impressive. Pfft! Here's hoping that the iPhone will give you a nice spiff for each sale!

HAHAHA!

Sheesh...do you really think AT&T is the only company that can offer bundles? You're retarded if you honestly believe that, because Sprint and Verizon offer the same crap! Dumbass!

Neutral

Will @ Mar 4th 2007 11:15PM

yep...check your facts. at&t added 2.4mil in the 4th quarter....verizon 2.3, i knew verizon was close that's why i left them out of my statement...not really blowing at&t away as you insinuated

Neutral

Will @ Mar 4th 2007 11:17PM

haha, sorry...i could work minimum wage anywhere. yeah, sure verizon can offer bundling...but not in near as many places as at&t can. verizon doesn't offer home service or dsl in the majority of the southeast...at&t can everywhere in which sbc and bellsouth existed, which just happens to be about half the freakin country

Neutral

beanspants @ Mar 4th 2007 11:18PM

all of you are wrong. at&t does not have the highest churn. the $50 billion in debt is for landline services, and the $28b for Verizon is the same.

sprint lost customers in the past few quarters. they are suffering compared to verizon & cingular, but not really suffering that badly. they are bleeding employees, executives, and customers, but they'll pull it back together, and even though they lost customers, they were still profitable.

Neutral

Jr @ Mar 4th 2007 11:21PM

My facts say AT&T only added 1.8 million, while Verizon added 2.0 million.

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-6031517.html

Neutral

Will @ Mar 4th 2007 11:26PM

http://www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=4800&cdvn=news&newsarticleid=23327

http://news.vzw.com/news/2007/01/pr2007-01-29.html

that's my info...straight from the horses mouth

Neutral

Will @ Mar 4th 2007 11:28PM

the article you linked is full of mis-information...as you informed me earlier verizon has 59mil customers, that article says 51 which is more like i was thinking

Neutral

Will @ Mar 4th 2007 11:34PM

ok, i was unaware that sprint's churn rate exceeded at&t's lately...they're not in our top 3 competitors in my market, so i dont get regular numbers on them..only about once a year as far as things like that go

Neutral

Jr @ Mar 4th 2007 11:37PM

Sorry Will...but I never mentioned subscriber numbers.

However, I will mention cash flow...

AT&T
Revenue (ttm): 63.06B
Gross Profit (ttm): 24.67B

Verizon...
Revenue (ttm): 88.14B
Gross Profit (ttm): 49.64B

Sprint...
Revenue (ttm): 41.03B
Gross Profit (ttm): 20.30B

You still claiming AT&T is so much better than say, Verizon?

Neutral

Jr @ Mar 4th 2007 11:39PM

Will...no one cares about the "market" in BFE Alabama...or whatever layer of hell you inhabit.

Neutral

Will @ Mar 4th 2007 11:39PM

you have to remember, cingular's statement includes just that...cingular, not at&t and bellsouth. verizon's includes their landline, dsl and cellular services

Neutral

Jr @ Mar 4th 2007 11:44PM

Sorry Will...but that WAS AT&T's statement...not "stinkular". Stinkular is a wholly owned portion of AT&T...it does not stand alone.

Neutral

Will @ Mar 4th 2007 11:44PM

i happen to live in the 4th largest city in georgia, a market that alltel and cellular one dominated until verizon bought out cellular one and removed their store...at&t and alltel now dominated with sprint and tmobile barely surviving...my bad, it was somebody else that stated that verizon had more customers than i was aware of. and you are completely ignorant if you believe that georgia isn't a market worthy of winning...it's one of the fastest growing states

Neutral

Will @ Mar 4th 2007 11:45PM

bellsouth and at&t both owned cingular...that's not all of cingular's numbers

Neutral

Jr @ Mar 4th 2007 11:52PM

Sorry Will...but that was the most recent quarter, which includes BellSouth added to the AT&T numbers...woohoo...fourth largest city in Georgia...the very fact that you're bringing up Cellular One as a "competitor" tells me you're completely full of crap...Dobson Cellular sucks ass!

Neutral

Will @ Mar 4th 2007 11:54PM

dude, cellular one was bought out in 99 or 2000...i was simply stating the history of my market. not listing them as a competitor

Neutral

Matt @ Mar 4th 2007 11:57PM

Ok...so here's a silly question.. WTF is unlimited M2M (Mobile to Mobile) SMS-ing??? Where else would you send a text message to ???? I understand one can send an SMS-to-Email but that's just a fraction of SMS'. Can someone explain the Unlimited M2M texting idea or am I missing something???

Matt

Neutral

Will @ Mar 5th 2007 12:00AM

m2m is simply to other at&t customers...much like m2m minutes

Neutral

elgee02 @ Mar 5th 2007 12:07AM

Will, dude... come on man get your facts strait. Verizon WIRELESS is a privately owned company, run separate from Verizon, which solely does landline and DSL. Verizon owns 55% stake in Verizon Wireless, Vodafone owns the other 45%. And for the love of God, do not be so dense as to tell a VZW employee how many customers they have. We have 59 million whether you like it or not.

Neutral

Will @ Mar 5th 2007 12:12AM

dude, i admitted verizon had 59mil...hence the fact that i said the article he posted was full of mis-information. i said that the article was closer to what i was thinking, but i will always take a company's website info over a 3rd party website any day

Neutral

Will @ Mar 5th 2007 12:17AM

according to their respecitve websites verizon had 38bil in revenue...cingular had 37.5bil. a lot closer when you just look at the wireless parts of the companies

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