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British SMS Volume Reaches One Billion Messages per Week

2:12 am on November 16, 2007 | Category: Messaging, Telecom Services, Wireless

British mobile phone users are now sending more than one billion text messages each week, according to a recent report by the Mobile Data association.

Average weekly SMS volume has increased 25% in the past year, and is the same as annual volume in 1999. Approximately 4.285 billion text messages were sent from the UK in September 2007, which is roughly equivalent to 4,000 messages per second, according to MDA Director, Mike Short.

“It has exceeded our forecasts quite significantly,” Short commented, noting that SMS is “convenient, comprehensive, it’s on every handset and network and it is cost effective.”

SMS has become far more than a consumer-focused amusement, according to Short, and many businesses are now making use of the technology.

“It’s a lot more convenient for a business now to notify lots of their employees about an urgent message using a text message,” as opposed to a fax or email, Short explained.

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