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SMS (Short Message Service) was part of the GSM specification more than 25 years ago. I doubt that the developers of the original SMS, who were probably also launching concepts like telephone video conferencing, would have anticipated the success of the SMS concept. Removable SIM card and SMS were the two most prominent features that GSM technology had over competing analog networks.
Although, initially, the adoption of SMS was slow, since at that time messages could only be sent between users on the same network. However, once message center gateways between carriers and different networks were established, the momentum of SMS messaging exploded exponentially.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, SMS messaging was the bread and butter of most carriers. SMS is typically a best effort service and delivery is not guaranteed, infrastructure support compared to voice services is minimal, and revenue from SMS messaging exceeds revenue from voice services after cost is deducted operation of the equation.
However, competition between carriers eroded this revenue share as contract plans (popular in Western markets) included unlimited text messaging as part of the plan and per-message competition in the prepaid space also lowered the cost of the SMS.
The growing volume of text messages is driving down mobile operators’ revenues as traditional SMS takes a backseat to other text messaging networks. BlackBerry Messenger, iMessenger and Facebook’s mobile messaging service are taking revenue away from operators. For example, social messaging costs operators $14 billion in SMS revenue. They lost $8.7 billion in SMS revenue in 2010, according to Ovum.
What has further diminished SMS services are other text messaging devices that do not limit the size of the message to 140 characters and use the concept of group transmission, sending images, which SMS does not handle. Along with instant feedback if a message is unsuccessful, Blackberry users will resort to SMS only if their contact doesn’t have a Blackberry. In fact, it is a unified messaging platform.
GSM MMS was a further addition used almost exclusively for early camera phones, with the idea being that you can send a picture to another user, assuming they also have an MMS compatible phone, and this would be the natural successor to SMS. However, the cost and unreliability of MMS services meant that the service never struck a chord with the public.
Today, the original SMS protocol represents only a fraction of the total volume of messages circulating through the ether. The XMPP protocol has become the standard protocol for messaging platforms. Google uses it, also Skype and others. In fact, being an open standard, anyone can set up their own messaging platform. Many private corporations do this for security and liability reasons.
The great thing about XMPP messaging is that a single client can support multiple accounts. For example, you can have a Google Talk account for friends and family, a dedicated XMPP Jabber account for work, you can set your available status to unavailable for the Google Talk account during work hours and vice versa with the work account. during the weekend. and out of hours.
So it’s no surprise to learn that, for the first time, text messages are outperforming phone calls. Let’s face it, with a phone call there is so much unnecessary “wrapping” protocol that needs to be included, “Hi, how are you? Do you have time to talk about XYZ?” With texting, it’s universally accepted that you can get to the heart of what you want and get on with it. It’s ideal for busy people who don’t have time for dignitaries for a phone call.
However, text messages can get you in trouble. Due to mobile forms of text messaging, it’s easy to react suddenly and launch an appropriately caustic response to a text message, almost always during drinking. As we all know, with text messages you can’t retrieve or change what you do. What we need is a personal digital assistant on the smartphone, which is smart enough to delay such an SMS or change it automatically, we hope!
To conclude, SMS will remain the dominant force in mobile technology for several years to come. According to Informa Research, global SMS traffic will total 9.4 trillion messages in 2016, up from 5.9 trillion messages in 2011. And the volume and value of mobile transactions worldwide will average annual growth of 42% between 2011 and 2016. Analysts predict a market worth $617 billion with 448 million users by 2016.
Mobile operators in the Americas and Asia Pacific, for example, derive approximately 40% of their mobile revenue from mobile broadband and messaging. But while mobile broadband is arguably the fastest growing revenue stream for operators, mobile messaging and voice are far from dead yet,” said Stephane Teral, Infonetics Research principal analyst for infrastructure mobile and operator economics.
“Prophecies of doom for mobile operators’ SMS/MMS revenue stream are being overblown. Despite the popularity of hyped messaging apps like Apple’s iMessage and WhatsApp, our data shows SMS growing every year from 2012 to 2016, delivering $1 trillion in carrier revenue over those five years. And over that same period, voice revenue will decline only slightly, and will continue to account for a sizable portion of carrier revenue.”