AT&T Responds To T-Mobile's Free International Plans With Unlimited Messaging To Overseas Friends
T-Mobile may not have the widest coverage net of the major U.S. carriers, but boy, are they gaining mind share. And as it turns out, market share as well. After adding nearly 4.4 million subscribers in the most recent quarter, rivals such as AT&T are having to pay attention. They're also having to modify their offerings in order to remain competitive. Just weeks after AT&T introduced newer, more generous data plans for Mobile Share customers, the carrier is now making it cheaper and easier for those very customers to text overseas.
Starting on Friday (2/28), all AT&T Mobile Share and Mobile Share Value plans will now include unlimited international messaging from the U.S. to the world. Unfortunately, this omits a major wish for many, as it doesn't apply to messaging once you're already abroad. For this to be most useful, AT&T should'v allowed it to work in both directions. T-Mobile enables free data and messaging once you arrive in an international locale; AT&T only allows you to message those who are already overseas while you're still in the U.S.
For those looking to call using a standard number instead of Skype or Viber (or any of the other guys), AT&T is also launching a World Connect Value ($5/month) package that provides $0.01/minute calling to 35 countries.
It's actually a very poor response to T-Mobile's international offerings, but hopefully it's just the start of more significant changes to come.
Starting on Friday (2/28), all AT&T Mobile Share and Mobile Share Value plans will now include unlimited international messaging from the U.S. to the world. Unfortunately, this omits a major wish for many, as it doesn't apply to messaging once you're already abroad. For this to be most useful, AT&T should'v allowed it to work in both directions. T-Mobile enables free data and messaging once you arrive in an international locale; AT&T only allows you to message those who are already overseas while you're still in the U.S.
For those looking to call using a standard number instead of Skype or Viber (or any of the other guys), AT&T is also launching a World Connect Value ($5/month) package that provides $0.01/minute calling to 35 countries.
It's actually a very poor response to T-Mobile's international offerings, but hopefully it's just the start of more significant changes to come.
