I think all they need is your phone number so if any of your friends, anyone at all, has your phone number they can use it; like an e-mail account. I don't know that Nextel can do anything about it. Text messaging has nothing to do with "options" but whether your phone is able to send/receive; whether you subscribe or not. It's exactly like a regular call, just "text" sent to that phone number. I'd see if you could get a "cheaper" phone that does not have the option to receive text messages though I don't know that they make them anymore. But any tom, ****, or harry that has someone else's cell phone "address" list where your number is listed. . .