T-Mobile has announced that effective June 1 they will be raising their individual SMS messaging rates from $0.10 to $0.15 per message. This puts T-Mobile's per message fee in line with that of the other major US carriers. T-Mobile will also be decreasing their per-message fee for MMS messages from $0.25 to $0.15, effectively creating a one price fits all messaging structure.
While this news may rest a little uneasily with T-Mobile subscribers (like me) who send and receive a handful of SMS messages each month but don't have an unlimited messaging plan, there may be a silver lining hidden in our subscriber agreement contracts. This fee structure change seems to constitute a material change to the contract which, according to the contract itself, would allow customers to exit the agreement without having to pay T-Mobile's $200/line early termination fee (ETF).
Though it may sound a bit absurd, and T-Mobile customer service reps undoubtedly won't make it easy on you when you try, the fact of the matter seems to be that the rate hike is a change that adversely affects existing customers and as such is grounds upon which we may end our contracts. In fact, people have been reporting success in moving on to new carriers (see links below).
This isn't without precedent: back on March 13, PhoneDog reported on a similar story involving an administrative fee increase that let Verizon Wireless customers opt out of their contracts without suffering an ETF. If you're a happy T-Mobile customer, there may be no reason to consider jumping ship. But if the lure of 3G data services, free handsets, or better service or plans has you eyeing a rival carrier anyway, this just might be the break (from T-Mobile) you've been waiting for.
Read More:
Boy Genius Report: boygeniusreport.com/2007/03/20/t-mobile-increasing-sms-rates-get-out-while-you-still-can/
Howard Forums: howardforums.com/showthread.php't=1125543&page=1&pp=15