Not really, in Europe you have unlimited sms’ from like forever. Think people went to different platforms because communication was less clumsy and it was easier to do it also with Android friends. So all in one
In many countries carriers did offer unlimited sms plans, but they would cost a significant amount more over base plans which would say include 100 free texts a month. Also until EU regulations hit if you had any family or friends in other countries or ever went on holiday the cost of SMS was astronomical.
It took many carriers awhile to realize that "free" messaging apps were a significant threat, I assume because they were also charging heavily for data and just assumed because these used data they would make just as much money. Ignoring things like WiFi and how in the long run these apps would use such a small % of the data a user demanded they would be effectively free.
The US phased out their SMS fees about the same time smart phones started to become popular. I think it was only due to regulation.