AT&T Changes Texting Plans

At some level, changing retail service plans are a bit of an on-going exercise.

It isn't so clear that a shift to unlimited texting is much more than a tactical move on AT&T's part. After all, given the vocal opposition to "metered" broadband access plans, both fixed and wired, some might argue AT&T is giving those people what they want.

As it turns out, in this case "unlimited" means an end to buckets of usage arguably better suited to lighter users.   But price changes have behavioral consequences. When substitute products are available, a price increase for one product tends to cause a shift to the substitutes. That might happen.

Of course, some would say that shift will happen in any case. Facebook Messenger, for example, is designed to allow users to exchange messages whether or not they are friends on Facebook by using contact numbers stored on smartphones, the company said.

The company's prior instant-messaging offerings only work among Facebook friends and require mobile users to go through the Facebook app, which is much slower than the app optimized for chat

The new app, which works oniPhone and Android devices, provides one example of a substitute product.
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