Free messaging fight against by Telecoms

Free messaging fight against by Telecoms

Just past the security gate for the world’s largest cell phone trade show in Barcelona, executives of big mobile carriers can’t avoid walking past a booth they would probably rather not see: It’s for “Pinger,’’ a small California company that offers free texting in the United States and Germany and has global expansion plans.

Pinger and an explosion of smartphone messaging services — like iMessage, BlackBerry Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber Media, Facebook Messenger and KakaoTalk — have managed in just a few years to slash away at the important revenue that cell phone companies get from text messaging. Analysts say there’s no end in sight to the financial blood letting.