Texting profits at risk as users look elsewhere

Text-messaging has long been a big-time profit generator for U.S. mobile operators, but they now risk losing these profits as consumers find cheaper ways to communicate.

SMS -- short message service -- is no longer all the rage, but it still generates an estimated 12 percent of service revenue for U.S. operators. Now, with many consumers turning to low-cost alternatives like iMessenger, BlackBerry Messenger and Facebook's mobile messaging service, operators like Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint Nextel risk losing a steady, superbly profitable source of income. Customers using the new crop of messaging services must still pay for mobile Internet access, but the cost per message is much smaller than a monthly SMS service plan or per text charges, particularly as U.S. carriers charge both the recipient and sender. U.S. operators still carry a lot of text messages on their networks, but they are seeing warning signs ahead.