Some facts and figures about SMS

* The first text message was sent in December 1992, and SMS was launched commercially for the first time in 1995
* 1998 - Interconnect between UK Operators O2, Orange, Vodafone and T-Mobile
* The first recorded monthly text message total was 5.4 million in April 1998
* August 2001 was the first month in which over one billion messages were sent in the UK
* December 2002 - 1 billion SMS per day were exchanged globally
* The MDA has forecast that 36.5 billion messages will be sent throughout the UK during 2006, with an average of 100 million messages being sent per day



* 65 million UK subscribers were registered as active on UK networks as of the end of December 2005 of which over 70% send text messages
* 95% of 16-24 year olds use text messaging regularly, each sending an average of 100 texts per month
* On New Year's Day 2003, the number of text messages sent in one day topped one hundred million for the first time
* On New Year's Day 2006, the highest daily total ever recorded by the Mobile Data Association was reached, when 165 million messages were sent
* Annual SMS totals: 1999 - 1 billion; 2000 - 6.2 billion; 2001 - 12.2 billion; 2002 - 16.8 billion; 2003 - 20.5 billion; 2004 - 26 billion; 2005 - 32 billion
* Britons sent 120 million text messages on Valentine's Day 2006, compared to the estimated 12 million cards sent.
* On average, 4.1 million messages are sent every hour in Britain.
* 72% of women v 70 % of men text regularly (source - ICM Research)
* More women than men use picture messaging, while men are bigger users of the mobile internet (WAP) (source - Enpocket)
* The peak hours for texting are between 10.30pm and 11.00pm
* There is a huge range of services that can send you text updates e.g. Movie reviews, bank balances, sports, and weather.
* 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.