AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile will no longer charge its customers for text messages from information services The Los Angeles Times reported Friday.
"We are pleased that AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile have decided to stop the flow of money from the pockets of ordinary people to the bank accounts of scam artists," Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell, a frontrunner for the change, said in a statement.
Customers will no longer be charged for weather alerts, sport score updates, and services with ringtones, phone wallpapers, and trivia subscriptions The Times reported.
"We believe in making things right for our customers," T-Mobile chief executive officer John Legere said in a post on his Twitter account. "T-Mobile will terminate all billing for premium SMS, except for charitable and political giving, as soon as possible with as minimal impact on our customers as possible.
Consumers buy and sign-up for the services and are often greeted with unwanted messages which cost them $10 a month.
"Since premium messaging was first introduced, technology advances and smartphone adoption have dramatically changed the way customers access information," Verizon told the Verge. "Verizon had previously decided to exit the premium messaging business because of these changes as well as recent allegations that third parties have engaged in improper conduct in providing premium messaging services to our customers."
Verizon is one phone company not discontinuing costs for the services, but working on a plan to do so on its own.
"While we don't agree with all of the Attorney General's allegations, we respect his efforts in this area," Verizon told the Verge. "For years, Verizon has been vigilant in protecting our customers from bad actors. There have been numerous times we have terminated programs and in some cases have taken aggressive legal action in order to ensure our customers were protected. Since premium messaging was first introduced, technology advances and smartphone adoption have dramatically changed the way customers access information. Verizon had previously decided to exit the premium messaging business because of these changes as well as recent allegations that third parties have engaged in improper conduct in providing premium messaging services to our customers. We are in the process of winding down our premium messaging business. Verizon will, however, continue to support text-to-donate for charitable programs and text-to-contribute for political campaigns that use this technology."
