Hpy 20th bday txt msg
With the advent of Smartphones, everyone today is talking about Internet on mobiles, 3G speeds etc. However, SMS, a traditional short message service on mobile, even today is pretty much the most frequently used feature after calling..errr even more than calling.
According to Wikipedia, the first SMS message was sent over the Vodafone GSM network in the United Kingdom on 3 December 1992, from a man named Neil Papworth using a personal computer to Richard Jarvis of Vodafone using an Orbitel 901 handset.
The technology behind the SMS text is 27-years old, having first been developed in the Franco-German GSM cooperation in 1984 by Friedhelm Hillebrand and Bernard Ghillebaert. It was then, eight years later, that the “Merry Christmas” text was sent.
Since then, SMS technology has come a long way to dominant the current mobile messaging scene. In 2010, SMS texts generated $114.6 billion in revenues worldwide, but many believe it’s just the beginning. Experts estimate that mobile networks will earn $726 billion from SMS text messaging over the next five years.
And now a report by watchdog Ofcom has confirmed text messaging with its family of emoticons and familiar abbreviations like OMG! (Oh my God!) is the most popular way to stay in contact. Its study revealed many of us are likely to echo the very first SMS message by saying “Merry Christmas” this year by text rather than the spoken word. The survey found 90% of 16-24-year-olds text daily to communicate with friends and family, compared to only 63% who talk face to face.
Majority of Indian population uses SMS more than calling. Even professionals use it for myriad of reasons, including checking bank balances, mobile bills, and status of train/flight etc. Recent TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) data shows that Indians are using SMS as an extension of their lives more and more every year. An average Indian sends 29 SMS per month. Just multiply that with number of ever growing Mobile subscribers in India and you will have an idea of amount of SMS traffic India generates!
Due to such a vast amount of text SMSes being sent in the country and to stop the telemarketers from spamming the users, TRAI had to take a tough call of preventing the network blockage and choke by reducing the number of text SMS being sent daily per number to just 100 per day. The telecom industry generates most of its revenues by this facility. Check out some of the facts about SMS services in India below:
- SMS VAS is the highest revenue earning Value Added Service with almost 5% revenue earned by service providers
- 1 in 5 urban Indians have used a SMS based VAS service either as a one-off or on subscription basis.
- SMS is an effective marketing tool, showing conversion rates a lot higher than other conventional mediums i.e. TV/Radio etc.
- 1 in 3 Urban Indian has acted in some manner over the SMS i.e. forwarding to others or inquiring about it.
- SMS, an advertising medium, has an interaction rate of around 5%
- 25% Indians have participated in some sort of SMS contest
Ofcom’s Communications Market Report 2012 said even talking on the phone was also less popular than texting among this younger age group, with only 67% saying they made daily phone calls. The text, or SMS (Short Message Service) is used many billions of times a year around the globe. It has given rise to a number of new challenges for modern society, including digital bullying, the dangers of texting while driving and “sexting” – where sexually explicit photographs or messages are sent by mobile phone.
But while it is still the most popular way of staying in touch, after two decades of keypad finger bashing, Ofcom’s report reveals a decline in the volume of traditional texts sent. So while smartphone applications like GroupMe and services like Apple’s iMessage start to make up larger slices of the text messaging field, SMS is not giving up its mobile messaging throne anytime soon.
Now, it’s time to send a happy birthday text!
Mohit Madan
