Encouraging, Not Discouraging, MMS Use

While most of the news stories about Leap's new service plans focus on the flat rate voice plans, what might be more interesting is the ability to add flat-rate MMS messages for just $5 more. For years, the industry insisted that MMS was going to be a big deal and would make much more than SMS. For some reason, it appears that carriers actually believed that pictures were worth 1,000 words and priced MMS messages accordingly. Of course, the problem was that text messaging seemed to fit what users wanted to do with their phones, and they saw no reason to use more expensive MMS messages without being given a good reason why. Leap's decision to offer flat-rate MMS is a recognition that the industry seriously screwed up MMS pricing (not to mention the fact that they ignored interop for the longest time), and that they need to come up with more ways to encourage, not discourage, use of the technology.

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