AT&T notified iPhone owners of the change to summary billing through the mass text messaging of the following statement: "AT&T free msg: We are simplifying your paper bill, removing itemized detail. To view all detail go to att.com/mywirelesss. Still need full paper bill? Call 611."

Yesterday, the mobile operator said it would no longer send comprehensive paper phone bills to iPhone customers—many of whom complained over the last week or so about receiving unnaturally bulky bills, which detailed not just every phone call, but every text message and kilobyte used for accessing the Web—unless such detail is specifically asked for. And, as the above message states, such details will still be available anyway, just online.

Starting on September 28th, this very same billing policy will be extended to new customers, when AT&T will start charging $1.99 per line for detailed paper bills, something Verizon Wireless already does. At that time, AT&T will automatically change existing subscribers who aren't iPhone users to summary billing after they request any type of alteration to their service plan.

Initial iPhone bills ranged in size from about 30 to 50 pages or longer. One bill, received by video blogger and graphic designer Justine Ezarik of Pittsburgh, was a mailman-back-busting 300 pages long. It came in a box and cost AT&T $7 to deliver. She posted a video that showed her un-boxing her massive bill. The video received millions of viewings and helped fuel the controversy.

While we would like to offer AT&T kudos for such a quick response to the outcry over the excessive waste of paper with the iPhone bill, the carrier asserts the change in billing policy was set in motion months ago, apparently long before the release of the iPhone. "We just decided to get going right away on the iPhone customers," AT&T spokesperson Mark Siegel explained to the COX News Service.

As for Ezarik, she's so happy about the change to summary billing and receiving the text message announcing it, she decided to post another video to basically thank AT&T for listening to its customers.

Sure, in the end, iPhone users may not be responsible for AT&T’s move to summery billing. However, their outcry over the waste detailed paper bills engender almost certainly lead to the earlier demise of these types of bills, not just for themselves but maybe even other AT&T wireless subscribers as well. Now if only AT&T would pass its paper savings onto customers.