SMS use set to hit the one billion mark

NEWS Mobile marketeers are rubbing their hands together following news that use of SMS in the UK is set to reach the one billion mark for this month. Figures from the Mobile Data Association (MDA) show that in July a massive 992 million messages were sent in the UK, and that figure doesn't even include messages sent from websites or delivered ring tones. This month the MDA expects the figure to top one billion - the highest number ever - boosted by exam results and school holidays. But it's not just the kids topping the figures. The MDA found the UK's twentysomethings text regularly, though they tend not to be as interactive as their younger counterparts. While messaging is mostly restricted to friends and family, chairman of the Wireless Marketing Association and CEO of Brainstorm Marketing Steve Wunker argued that generally people are happy to receive marketing information, provided it is opt-in. Wunker said: "The mobile is a highly intrusive device and non opt-in marketing will infuriate consumers." Wunker explained that only around two to three per cent of the total volume of SMS messages is used by the institutional market - mainly network operators. This number is set to grow, helped by the introduction of enhanced messaging, which Wunker predicts will emerge in the UK in next six to nine months. The result will be a greater number of marketing messages to an increasingly SMS-literate audience.