Record SMS traffic during New Year period across Asia Pacific  
ConvergenceAsia staff
15/01/2008

Messaging and charging company Acision has announced that according to their figures, global SMS traffic over the 2007/2008 New Year period increased by 30 per cent compared to the same period last year. Around the world, phone users sent a staggering 43 billion text messages to wish their loved ones a happy New Year.

“Since the commercial introduction of SMS by Acision 15 years ago, mobile users generally prefer to use SMS to communicate with loved ones during special events like Christmas and New Year. The popularity of SMS can be attributed to its ease of use, speed of delivery and convenience to communicate with multiple recipients,” said Boudewijn Pesch, Managing Director of Acision, Asia Pacific.

“The surge in SMS traffic during this festive season is a clear indication that the service continues to be a favourite method of communication for the millions of people in Asia Pacific, and will remain so as we move into 2008.”

In Asia Pacific, Acision revealed the countries with the highest SMS traffic processed over the festive season. Philippines tops the ranking with 1.39 billion messages, closely followed by Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand.

With 5.432 million mobile subscribers and 116 per cent mobile penetration rate, Singapore processed on average 1 billion messages per month during 2007. During Christmas and New Year, which is considered a peak holiday and travel season in Singapore, a total of 180 million SMS messages were processed as residents and tourists alike sent well wishes to their friends and families.

Said Pesch, “With SMS traffic again expected to scale new heights and reach trillions of messages in 2008, and considering that text messaging represents a strategic part of mobile revenues, operators recognise the critical need for a robust and reliable SMS infrastructure and a high quality end-to-end SMS solution rather than a mix of separate point solutions, such as a direct delivery router.”

Acision is fully aligned with the business objectives and strategies of mobile operators in Asia Pacific, and will continue to be the partner of choice in the face of expected messaging market growth in 2008, Pesch added.

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