When entry level mobile phones became mainstream in the UK (probably around 2000, around the time of the Nokia 3210/3310), SMS were charged at 10p/12p a pop.
Around a year or two later, a mobile network (O2 for the fellow Brits when they changed from Cellnet) kicked off their online offerings with a Genie SIM, which allowed for a whopping 300 free text messages if you applied £15 credit in a month, which remained for calls while you still had an allowance. Data was delivered over dialup at the time. GPRS was far too fancy for data.
My social life went to another gear after that. At least until mid month when my free messages and minutes evaporated.