New Year Set Global SMS Records

Thousands of miles, different time zones, even the seas and oceans proved no barrier for friends, family and loved ones this New Year, as the amount of SMS sent globally increased over 30 per cent compared to last year, to reach a staggering 33 billion messages sent worldwide. These statistics are being attributed to increased use of SMS by groups outside of the traditional young user segments.

Responsible for handling more than half of all messages sent in the world, LogicaCMG has calculated that its systems processed around 18 billion messages on New Year's Day, up one-third from the previous year.

With around two billion active SMS users worldwide it is by far the largest messaging community in the world, and with mobile penetration on the rise the future looks bright for SMS as the consumers' choice for mobile communication.

Across the globe, record traffic growth in established messaging markets combined with a number of newer emerging SMS markets caused a volume growth of messages far beyond anticipated levels. LogicaCMG, the messaging specialist that serves over one billion subscribers in 135 countries across six continents, saw new traffic records for the last festive season across the majority of the world's mobile markets including the UK (29 per cent growth), France (28 per cent growth) and Thailand (close to 50 per cent growth).

Henk de Boer, senior vice president, messaging, at LogicaCMG said: "The double-digit growth of SMS sent globally proves that its relevance in the lives of people is stronger than ever. Mobile users are able to fully rely on the capability of SMS to guarantee real-time delivery of their personal messages to businesses, friends and family at time critical moments.

"LogicaCMG expects this trend to continue further still as SMS and internet-based messaging services such as mobile instant messaging are made interoperable. This New Year has demonstrated that far from reaching an end, SMS and mobility remain a key part of tomorrow's lifestyle. As the global leader in mobile messaging, LogicaCMG is the primary provider of fully interoperable solutions that seamlessly link the SMS community to internet based messaging communities," added de Boer. "

Posted to the site on 30th January 2007