News
Issue #2003 - 30 (November 2003)
(Updated Nov. 26, 2003)

MARKET OUTLOOK & TRENDS

Wireless Text Messaging Booms in Canada

The Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) reports cell phone users in the country have sent more than 32 million text messages during the month of September. The SMS total is triple the monthly usage in the 18 months since April 2002, when North America's first inter-carrier text messaging network was launched by a Canadian wireless carrier. CWTA's president and chief executive officer, Peter Barnes, says in addition to this milestone, Canada is seeing a rapid deployment of text messaging programs using common short codes, such as TV and radio voting, contests and other interactive campaigns.

As compared to Canada, here is another metrics from UK
Text messages in Britain grow by leaps and bounds: The Mobile Data Association (MDA) said that the total number of chargeable person-to-person text messages sent across the four UK GSM networks reached 1.8 billion during October 2003. October’s figure is the highest monthly total reported since the MDA began collating data on behalf of the UK network operators in 1998. The UK daily average figure for October stands at 58.5 million, compared to 50 million in October 2002 and 38 million in October 2001. The cumulative figure for 2003 has already overtaken the 2002 total, which was 16 billion. October’s figures takes the cumulative total for 2003 to 16.8 billion, against a 12 month MDA forecast for the year of 20 billion, allowing for seasonal trends. For more information on text messaging in the UK, see the text.it and MDA sites.

MobileInfo Comments and Advisory: SMS is definitely catching on in Canada and in USA but nowhere at the same pace as in Europe.

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