AT&T’s New “Streamlined” Messaging Plan Could Cost You Big: The Geek Girl Report

Text messaging is great. It's non-intrusive, and convenient if you're too busy to call or if you just have a quick question or reminder for the person. If you can't talk, you can always text. That's why I am so irritated at AT&T's latest attempt to "streamline" its text messaging services.

AT&T has recently done away with it's 1000 texts for $10 text messaging plan, leaving AT&T's $20 a month unlimited text plan as the only option. you'll either be forced to pay $0.20 each time you send a text ($0.30 if you're sending a picture or video) or you'll have to sign up for unlimited texting.

You may think $0.20 per text isn't a big deal, but trust me, it starts to add up. Let's say you send just 500 texts a month. If you're not on AT&T's unlimited plan, you'll be paying an extra $100 on your phone bill. And that's just if you're sending texts. You'll be paying even more if you're sending photos and videos.

Considering that it costs AT&T next to nothing to relay texts from one phone to another, they're gonna make a killing off of this new deal, which is bad news for those of us who aren't on the unlimited plan. I don't think there was anything wrong with the 1000 text for $10 plan. It was a great, affordable option for those who do an average amount of texting. But now, you're going to be paying quite a bit more either way. I think this is just a greedy move on AT&T's part, and I really hope this won't become a trend amongst the other service providers.