VoiceStream: New Messaging Service

"Inter-carrier service lets customers send a text message to any cell phone user, regardless of the receiver's carrier. Previously, customers could send and receive text messages only to and from customers of the same wireless carrier. Subscribers to carriers that don't offer inter-carrier service can respond to, but not initiate, a text message conversation with someone who subscribes to a different carrier.

Inter-operability is one of the keys that carriers say will help the United States, which still lags behind Europe in the popularity of text messaging. Last year, there were about 176 million e-mails sent between cell phones in the United States, according to Scott Ellison, program director of wireless and mobile communications for analyst firm IDC.

Next year, Ellison believes that number will increase to 1.5 billion wireless e-mails sent. By comparison, there are an estimated 30 billion messages exchanged every month in Europe. Carriers wouldn't confirm these estimates. [News.com]

Finally, a company starts looking long-term instead of short-term. I wondered who would realize that being first out of the pack would be a benefit. I got a call from Sprint PCS the other day. They're my current carrier, and they wanted to put me on a different plan that would be more cost-effective for me. Except that they couldn't find one that would be more cost-effective for me. And since arbitrarily switching would put me back in a contract with them, I declined. I want the ability to switch carriers when I want to switch without a penalty fee.

Inter-operable text-messaging and the forward thinking behind it are incentives that will make me consider switching carriers. Of course, I'm not doing anything until I see how "3G" services take off this summer, but VoiceStream definitely got an up arrow in my mental notes today, whereas I wasn't paying too much attention to them yesterday.

And BTW, did you note that 30 billion messages a month figure for Europe?! I know in a few short years, our kids will be riding home on the bus sending messages to their friends about their after-school plans.