UK sends 11 million text messages an hour

London, UK, January 28th 2010: The Mobile Data Association (MDA) has welcomed new evidence of the UK’s ever growing appetite for mobile messaging, illustrated in its latest report.

Covering Text Messaging (SMS) and Picture and Video Messaging (MMS) activity for 2009/10, the mobile trade body’s report contains statistics aggregated from each of the UK’s Mobile Network Operators.

The continued growth of messaging is highlighted by a 2009 daily average of 265 million text messages and 1.6 million picture messages. 2009’s text message total was 96.8 billion, while over 600 million picture messages were sent across the whole year.

Seasonal drivers still appear to propel the use of Picture Messaging, with 4.5 million picture messages being sent on Christmas Day itself, while Network Operators’ figures also indicated an upturn in picture messaging during the recent cold snap.

Text messaging traffic over the recent festive period continued to rise proportionately.

Assessing the findings of the MDA’s report, Rob Bamforth, Principal Analyst at Quocirca, said: "New generation touchscreen handsets and the bundling of SMS messages into many tariffs has made texting easier, and seen its role develop. Now it is not only a convenient medium for a quick chat with friends, but also a way of participating in television voting and raising funds for needy charities. When a powerful call to action is given, the population of the UK often turn first towards their mobile phones."

Steve Reynolds, MDA Chairman, said: "These statistics show that even with new social media forms of messaging such as Twitter and Facebook, people are using SMS as a social messaging tool because of its simplicity and ubiquity. There remains a significant and still developing role for text messaging. In a seemingly relentless tide of status updates, tweets and pokes, the UK population’s love affair with mobile messaging for instant, on-the-go communication continues to deepen "

Reynolds concluded, "The majority of mobile phone users know how to quickly send a text message, wherever they happen to be. It will still be some time before the same can be said for other social messaging forms."

Q4 2009 Statistical findings

Text Messaging (SMS)
Total number of text messages (SMS) sent in:
2009 total 96.8 billion
2008 total 78.9 billion
2007 total 56.9 billion

These SMS statistics can be broken down as follows in 2009:
Year on year growth (2009 vs 2008): 23% growth
Number of text messages sent per day: 265 million

Video and Picture messages (MMS)

Total number of picture messages (MMS) sent in:
2009 total 601 million
2008 total 553 million
2007 total 449 million

These statistics can be broken down as follows in 2009:
Year on year growth (2009 vs 2008): 9% growth
Number of MMS messages sent per day: 1.6 million

Ends

Notes to Editors

· The MDA announces the total number of chargeable person-to-person text messages sent on behalf of the UK GSM Network operators.　 For further information visit the MDA Messaging web site at http://www.text.it.

· Use or reference to these statistics should be credited to The Mobile Data Association.

· The MDA was established in 1994 to reflect the common voice of the mobile data industry. The longest established dedicated Mobile trade association in the UK promotes the use and benefits of mobile data throughout industry and business. Press, regular industry conferences and seminars, and the operation of industry-interest websites help promote a high level of awareness amongst users and advisers, directly influencing operational management.

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