Interesting blog post to Mobile Messaging 2.0 from Russell Shaw on the subject of flat rate SMS and MMS plans.
According to a tip turned into a post on Engadget Mobile, AT&T will, starting next Monday, offer a flat monthly SMS/MMS Family Plan for $29.99.
I think this is merely a transitional phase. The current per-SMS message fee model will soon be consigned to the dustbin of history.
Eventually, carriers will simply assess SMS and MMS messages either according to the number of characters in the header and then the message itself- or the number of minutes you spend sending and receiving such messages.
So let’s just say you SMS 200 minutes a month. If that activity doesn’t push you above your calling plan’s parameters, you’ve already paid for the time. If not, that’s when the overages will start to kick in.
What are you thoughts? My first impressions are ‘nice idea, but how is it going to work?’ – in particular with regard to charging for the number of minutes you spend sending and receiving SMS or MMS messages. Most mobile users don’t give a second thought to how long it takes to actually send or receive and SMS to or from the network. Would they think they were being charged for the amount of time it took to write or read one? Would faster typers get more per month than slower typers?
Nice idea, and I’d love to be proved wrong, but.. no. Not going to work. Inclusive SMS and MMS in a bundle, yes. Unlimited, subject to ‘fair use’? Yes. But charging for messaging like voice on a per second/minute basis? Not going to work.