| NEW 40 BILLION UK FORECAST AS SUMMER PROVES TEXT MESSAGING IS STILL HOT |
24/08/06 |
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For Immediate Release : Thursday 24 August 06
Conditions Of Use : MDA to be credited as source.
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| Yet another record-breaking month for text messaging in the UK as July saw the total number of text messages sent soar to over 3.5 billion, according to figures released today by the Mobile Data Association (MDA) On average 113 million messages were sent per day throughout last month, and the total is an increase of almost 30% on the total sent during the same period in 2005 |
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To date over 21 billion person-to-person text messages have been sent across the UK’s networks during 2006. This is well on the way to surpassing the MDA’s annual forecast of 36.5 billion and because of this, the MDA have today increased their prediction to 40 billion for the year.
No doubt certain events during July helped contribute to the huge total, including the 140 million messages sent on July 1st, when England played Portugal in the World Cup (second only to the current daily record of 165 million messages sent on New Year’s Day this year), and arrangements being made via SMS during school holidays.
Over the last seven years text.it (www.text.it) has witnessed text messaging grow from a popular craze to becoming an essential communication tool. The full statistics of this text message explosion and monthly figure releases can be found at: http://www.text.it/mediacentre/press_release_list.cfm |
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- Prior to July 2006, the highest ever total of text messages recorded was 3.37 billion in June 2006. July’s figure was 3.5 billion.
- 6th December 2005, the Mobile Data Association (MDA) forecast that text messaging figures would rise to deliver an annual total of 36.5 billion text messages for 2006. This estimate was revised in August 2006 to 40 billion.
- May 2006 marked the launch of Phase 7 of the MDA’s generic awareness campaign to promote the advantages of text messaging across all networks, and provide a current information service through the text.it website for both consumers and business users. The consumer campaign targets both users and non-SMS users. The corporate programme focuses on business end-users and incorporates a web-based information service.
- The Mobile Data Association (MDA) was established in 1994 to increase awareness of mobile data amongst users and their advisers. The MDA acts as a focal point for its members, (vendors and users) and outside parties interested in knowing more about the industry
- The MDA announces the total number of chargeable person-to-person text messages sent on behalf of the UK GSM Network operators. These figures are announced in the third week of the following month. For further information visit the MDA website at www.themda.org or the Text It Campaign web site at www.text.it
- Mike Short, MDA Chairman is available for comment.
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For further information or to arrange an interview please contact Mark Hawkins at the MDA Press Office :
Tel: +44 (0) 7949 023795
email: mark.hawkins@themda.org
www.text.it |
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