Competition among cell phone carriers continues to grow in the United States, and complimentary international text messaging services is their latest push.
As of March, T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon Wireless will allow subscribers to send text messages internationally. However, according to a Bloomberg report, in order to receive such perks, customers have to be under a specific cell phone plan.
Despite the competition, T-Mobile is the only carrier that allows subscribers to have a cell phone plan that is not tied to a one or two-year agreement —this has helped the Washington-based company gain 2.1 million customers every month for the past three years.
Under AT&T's "Mobile Share" plan, users will be able to call Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean as often as they like for an additional $5 per month, but the international text messaging service covers 190 nations all over the world — multimedia messages are limited to 120 nations at this time, according to TIME Magazine.
"We are always looking for ways to keep our customers happy," AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph De La Vega told reporters at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week. "The offer we have is better than T-Mobile's, because on ours it isn't just land lines, it includes mobile as well."
On the other hand, Verizon Wireless' "More Everything" cell phone plan will provide unlimited international text messaging, extra cloud storage and the option to opt-in its Edge plan. Edge is a monthly installment plan that will give customers the option to upgrade their cell phone device every month as long as they trade in their old device and pay 50 percent of the new phone's cost, CNET explained.
Now, companies that have locations outside of Canada and the U.S. have an opportunity to engage with other customers under the same short code text. SMS Swift Gateway has the tools to roll out an extensive text messaging network.
