You may be astonished to learn about the prolific use of text messaging worldwide. The technology has caught on in a way that is nothing less than spectacular.

Below is a list of facts and articles about "SMS-ing" - texting - that may surprise you: 

AUSTRALIANS are set to send more than 10 billion text messages in 2008, as mobile phones become the preferred form of communication.

Telecommunications analyst Gartner has forecast that the number of mobile phone messages worldwide in 2008 will pass 2.3 trillion messages, a 19.6-per-cent increase from the 2007 total of 1.9 trillion messages.

Within Australia, Gartner predicts 10.8 billion mobile messages will be sent in 2008, and top 11.2 billion in 2011.

Gartner research director, Tole Hart, believes the increase in mobile messages is being driven by social networking and the number of carriers offering bundled pricing plans.

"The market is being driven by increased penetration of users, more frequent usage of peer-to-peer messaging, and unlimited and bucketed messaging plans," he said.

Hart said that despite the availability of email service via mobile phones, many users were sticking with text messaging.

"There has also been some uptake of mobile e-mail via POP3 mailboxes and mobile IM service, but it's very small compared with the uptake of SMS."

Revenue from messaging is expected to grow 15.7 per cent in 2008 to $US60.2 billion ($70.45 billion), up from $US52 billion ($60.85 billion) in 2007.

Darren Osborne - News.com.au

• Text messaging is the most widely used mobile data service on the planet, with 72% of all mobile phone users worldwide or 1.9 Billion out of 2.7 Billion phone subscribers at end of 2006 being active users of the Short Message Service (SMS).
   
• SMS is particularly popular in Europe, Asia (excluding Japan), Australia and New Zealand.
   
• Canadians sent more than 4.3 billion person-to-person text messages in 2006, more than doubling the previous year's volume of 1.5 billion. Canadians now send over 560.4 million text messages per month - that's more than 18 million text messages each day.
   
• The most common application of the service is person-to-person messaging, but text messages are also often used to interact with automated systems, such as ordering products and services for mobile phones, or participating in contests.
   
• Short Messaging Service was invented during the 1980s as a method of communication for engineers building the mobile network. Since its introduction in 1995 it has taken the world by storm.
   
• 95% of all text messages are delivered within 10 seconds.
   
• 23% of world-wide mobile users use SMS more than once a day.
   
• On average, 3 million messages are sent every hour in Britain.
   
• The monthly UK text messaging total broke through the 4 billion barrier for the first time during December 2006. Mobile Data Association (MDA)

Australians sent more than 6 billion text messages in 2004. This equates to 300 text messages for every single man, woman and child. Industry sources say SMS usage has grown by 30 percent a year since the year 2000. This number is set to continue to grow with the introduction of a system, which will allow messages to be sent from landlines. 

Sunday Mail 21/01/2005

• The first text message was sent in 1992
• On New Year's Day 2003, the number of text messages sent in one day topped one hundred million for the first time, and on New Year 's Day 2004, the daily total reached 111 million messages 
• On New Year's Day 2005, the highest daily total ever recorded by the Mobile Data Association was reached, when 133 million messages were sent 
• The Mobile Data Association predicts that 30 billion text messages will be sent during 2005
• The first local and mayoral electoral vote in the UK by text message took place on 23rd May 2002 
• There are a huge range of services that can send you text updates 
  e.g Movie reviews, bank balances, sports, weather, stock quotes. 
• The Rt. Hon Tony Blair MP became the first UK Prime Minister to use text message technology to talk directly to the people on 25th November 2004, answering questions submitted in advance by text message from members of the public as well as in real-time in a mobile phone chat-room, transmitted live from No. 10 Downing Street.

www.text.it

SMS in China to double to 550 billion in 2005, the ministry of information in China says that the number of SMS messages are expected to double in 2005. 

www.mobileyouth.org

Ford Fiesta in Belgium took SMS to new levels with their interactive billboard. Passers-by interact with the billboard in real time by sending text messages to it from their mobile phones. In return they stand a chance of winning prizes by answering questions the billboard asks them. Similar concepts have been successful in Times Square (Yahoo and Dove) and Piccadilly Circus (Coca Cola).

BMW created a mobile-centered campaign to promote the launch of its new 3 series. The campaign begins with a mobile phone number distributed from the automaker website, at autoshows and at other promotional events. The number returns a text message to the caller's phone providing a link to a mobile-enabled website containing information about the new vehicle and a gallery of past models. The campaign also provides a notification service, which will send an additional text message when the car nears availability.

www.adrants.com

DaimlerChrysler's Smart claims to be the first car manufacturer in the UK, and possibly the world, to use SMS responses in its TV advertising, allowing viewers to arrange test drives, request brochures or locate dealers by sending text messages from their mobile phones.

www.text.it