Cingular raises text messaging fee from 10 to 15 cents

Cingular Wireless L.L.C., the nation’s largest wireless carrier, plans to raise the price of sending and receiving text messages from 10 cents to 15 cents per message. The move comes shortly after rival Sprint Nextel Corp. also raised the price for its text messaging from 10 cents to 15 cents.
Cingular’s price increase goes into effect Jan. 21.
Interestingly, Cingular said the pricing change will not affect its early termination fee. Subscribers will still have to pay the fee to cancel their contract.
“That doesn’t apply here, this is simply a pricing change for pay-per-use text messaging, which is an optional service,” said Rochelle Cohen, a spokeswoman for Cingular.
When Sprint Nextel raised its text messaging price, the carrier said the change would allow affected customers to cancel their service without paying the carrier’s ETF.
Early termination fees typically run about $200 per line.
Cingular’s Cohen stressed that the carrier offers “great values” for text messaging. Cingular’s text messaging plans run from 200 messages per month for $5 to 3,000 messages per month for $20.
The carrier’s pricing change only affects those customers who are not on a messaging plan, meaning, those who pay for each text message they send or receive. Cohen declined to say how many customers the change affects. Cingular counts around 58 million subscribers.
Cohen said the pricing change is “in line with the competition,” but declined to give a further explanation for the increased text messaging charges.
T-Mobile USA Inc. and Verizon Wireless currently charge 10 cents to send and receive text messages.