Raspberry Pi 4G/LTE Cellular Modem Kit - No SMS text capabilty?

I just bought the 4G/LTE Modem Kit.
I can ping to the network with the modem and appear to connectivity.

When I go into Minicom and try to send AT commands, I keep getting random status messages in the terminal.
Example: +COPS: 0,0,“AT&T”,7
and +CSQ: 16,3

It seems that this modem constantly sends out a “heartbeat” of the network / signal quality. This interferes with me trying to enter AT commands. In particular - I’m trying to send an alert text message.

It appears this kit’s SIM card does not allow SMS texts?
When I run “ATD” it says no carrier. Do I need a different SIM card?