Seems the UK is still sending lots of SMSs — text messages — to each other. The Mobile Data Association (MDA) today said the total number of chargeable person-to-person text messages sent in the UK in June 2003 averaged 55 million per day, compared to 45 million in June 2002 and 30 million in June 2001. This takes the cumulative total for 2003 to 10 billion, against a 12 month forecast for the year of 20 billion. “Text messaging is continuing to rise in popularity and diversity”, comments Mike Short, chairman of the MDA, not unsurprisingly. But if you look at the graph:
it looks to me as if the whole thing is levelling off. After all, how many text messages can folk send? After all, there are less than 59 million people living in the UK, which means at the moment nearly every person is sending one SMS a day. That can’t be right. My mother hates her cellphone and keeps trying to throw it on the compost. I’m no expert but it looks as if people haven’t really been sending more text messages since last October. If that’s the case, are they going to move to MMS?