pretty much everyone outside the US, afaik...

Honestly I had no idea. I have TMO in the US, and haven't paid for texting (unlimited) in years.

Well, "not paying" would be more accurate. If you're paying for unlimited text it's not free.

Other places may have a fee for SMS but the monthly payment is still much lower than in the US

And yes, I'd rather have my phone, and pay less per month then get a phone "for free" but shell out $100 per month

I pay $50/month for unlimited calling, text, and data (5GB LTE speeds, then 2G) on T-Mobile. I pay outright for the phone (had a GalaxyNexus, moved to iPhone 5s). Its really not a bad deal.

Disclaimer: T-Mobile customer for 13 years.

True, not a bad deal at all

Some comparison values:

With 20€ per month on Ireland (pre-payed) one can get 250Mb AND Free calls in the network + free texts AND the 20€ for calls to other networks http://www.meteor.ie/pay-as-you-go/anytime-all-in/?linkid=pa... (if you go contract, the 20€ get you 1Gb Internet + 200Mins + Unlimited texts)

That is a shockingly low amount for prepaid data. T-Mobile has a $30/month unlimited (5GB 4G, then 2G) data and text plan (100 voice minutes).