Free text messaging with iPhone 4S and AT&T (Verizon, AT&T)

[k374]

I want to buy an iPhone 4S with AT&T but am disappointed that AT&T has done away with the $5/mo. 200msg plan. I send/receive about 50msgs a month or less and don't want to pay a la cart (and also expose myself to paying for spam), neither do I want to pay $20 for just 50 messages!!

What are my options here? Has anyone used TextPlus or Google Voice for messaging?

Verizon still has the $5/mo plan for 200msgs but I don't want Verizon as the data speed is quite a bit slower than AT&T.

[suzco]

Originally Posted by k374

I want to buy an iPhone 4S with AT&T but am disappointed that AT&T has done away with the $5/mo. 200msg plan. I send/receive about 50msgs a month or less and don't want to pay a la cart (and also expose myself to paying for spam), neither do I want to pay $20 for just 50 messages!!

What are my options here? Has anyone used TextPlus or Google Voice for messaging?

Verizon still has the $5/mo plan for 200msgs but I don't want Verizon as the data speed is quite a bit slower than AT&T.

Use email instead of text message? The new imessage capability doesn't incur any AT&T fees, but it only works between "iThings" using IOS 5.

[Malloric]

You'd have to really port your number to Google Voice and then block texting on your new number when you get the iPhone to get what you want. I haven't ported my number yet but use GV for voice mail so I don't have to pay for visual voice. I pretty much just use my Voice number for international txting/calls though...