According to the New York Times, the allure of the text message has started to ‘fade’. In some countries around the world, it says, the SMS has fallen victim to the many and varied alternative services that have been made accessible by smartphones.
It’s a startling prediction, especially when the meagre text has become so integral to the way that we use our mobiles, but I’m not sure it’s one that we’re ready to accept here at Three.
There’s no doubt about it, data is the future – you only need to look at how much of it our customers’ managed to use over the New Year period. But the rise of BBM, iMessage, Whatsapp and the like haven’t quite spelled the end for traditional SMSing for us yet. Texting is part of a rich choice of communication and not a substitution for something else.
In fact, our research shows that when it comes to choosing a price plan, a decent bundle of texts is still important to customers. And in contrast to the figures included in the New York Times article, we actually saw a 28% rise in the number of SMSs sent on New Year’s Eve – 46 million on 31st December 2011 compared to 36 million the year before.
We’re also seeing a rise in communication from businesses to their customers via text – “your car is ready for collection” and “don’t forget your appointment”.
So as far as we’re concerned, we’re not quite ready to wave goodbye to our 160 character friend just yet. Of course, we recognise the importance and rise in popularity of those new services, and we’ve lead the way by including all-you-can-eat data on our smartphone plans so you never have to worry about the cost, but a text allowance will remain a feature of our plans for as long as our customers tell us they want one.
We’re not saying c u l8er just yet 
.
67 Responses to Is the world saying c u l8er to texts?
Moderator: Sedge 07/02/2012
@ Steph – Yes, we have no current plans to remove our all-you-can-eat data plans
Steph 07/02/2012
i’ve heard something about the ASA introducing new guidelines which should from April onwards: “’unlimited’ can only be used if the customer incurs no additional charge or suspension of service as a consequence of exceeding a usage”.
will 3 keep the ayce data from april onwards?
Steph 03/02/2012
i’ve heard something about the ASA introducing new guidelines which should from April onwards: “’unlimited’ can only be used if the customer incurs no additional charge or suspension of service as a consequence of exceeding a usage”.
will 3 keep the ayce data from april onwards?
Ali T 02/02/2012
Also just wanted to say to those asking about data limitations… my broadband router went on the fritz last weekend. No internet… luckily my HTC phone turns into a wi-fi hotspot so I switched it on & was happily using it with 2 computers & a PS3 hooked into it. Speeds were 54mbps which is ironcically exactly the same as my normal broadband providers speeds. Spent 4 days using phone as hotspot with no problems. Heavy use during entire time as I’ve two kids and now I’ve got my phone back I’m still able to connect to the internet on it so no problems with data limits there. We love 3 in this house now
on AYCE
Moderator: Johanna 02/02/2012
@Steph – No, not at all! If you have any speed/network issues give us a shout and we’ll take a look for you.
Steph 02/02/2012
@Johanna – Great! So my speeds won’t be restricted after downloading a certain amount?
Moderator: Johanna 02/02/2012
@Steph – If you’re looking to get a phone plan with us you can enjoy AYCE data, so no need for a soft cap or a hard cap! If PAYG you can get AYCE included for £15 a month, SIM-only deals too and with any of our phone contract plans you can get AYCE data added for £3 a month.
Moderator: Johanna 02/02/2012
@Lloyd – *sigh* No It’s not true, tis all the rumour mill working over time. Thanks for alerting us to this article though, we’ll have a chat to the team at Electric Pig.
Moderator: Johanna 02/02/2012
@Lloyd – Just had a peek and there’s an upgrade happening on Feb 9, due for completion on the 11th. There’s also a new mast in planning but we don’t have a date for that yet. I hope this helps a little!
Ali T 01/02/2012
@hip59 – I think that perhaps @Sunjay has taken my suggestion and turned my peaceful revolution suggestion into more of a battle cry to take up arms
!
The point of my original comment (& @stew’s) for that matter was that we are perfectly happy with the idea of losing a percentage of our inclusive texts and minutes in order to make the AYCE package perform better for us with the inclusion of mms and/or video calling for those whose smartphones support the feature, and that there is a likelyhood that there are actually other like minded people who would not be opposed to the package being changed to support that.
It was never a demand, it was a suggestion that all the like minded people reading this blog contact others that they know who are also on 3 and also ask them to contact 3 and make their opinion on the subject known and as such the moderators have taken notice of the people within this blog and have (hopefully) passed our comments along to the ‘powers that be’ to investigate the possibilities available, As you pointed out yourself in the blog on 22/1/12 ’160 letters in a text should increase to double that to allow greater use and to increase take up rather than the current 160 limit for one text. Yes i know you can type more than 160 letter but you are billed more and BBM and others dont have a limt’ hence my question as to why 3 don’t include mms in their packages.
Think I’ve said enough…. Moderators 3:1 is the perfect ratio
Steph 01/02/2012
Hello. Is there a ‘soft’ downloading cap with Three? I.e. If you hit that limit, you wouldn’t be charged extra, you could still email and browse the internet but file downloads and video would be restricted. Is there anything like this because im really looking to join!
Lloyd 01/02/2012
Another question: I read on the following link that Three’s traffic control efforts kick in at about 80GB. Is this true? Sorry for the amount of questions! http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2012/01/30/t-mobile-wi-fi-apps-for-super-speeds-arrive-with-unlimited-tariffs/
Lloyd 01/02/2012
Hey guys. I was told that some work is going on at my post code for either a new mast or for an existing mast. Could you tell me what work is going on in my area at the moment and when it’ll be completed? My post code is SA10 [removed by Mod].
Moderator: Kaz 31/01/2012
@James Vincent – Thanks for the comments, I’ll pass them on for consideration.
James Vincent 30/01/2012
3 should defiantly throw in some mms and certainly some video calling minutes, I’m with you for two broadband accounts, when my current mobile contract ends I’d make the move for mms and video calling minutes.
Moderator: Johanna 30/01/2012
@JoSun – Nope, no limits at all
JoSun 30/01/2012
Hi. Is there an excessive usage policy for The One Plan? I.e. Will I get blocked if I stream too much TV?