Internet messaging may surpass SMS by 2016

Some 20 years after it was invented, SMS (text) messaging may be giving way to Internet-based (Net) wireless messaging —such as Skype, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp.

 

A report on TechHive.com cited a Tyntec/GigaOm study showing that by 2016, there may be more Net than SMS messages - about 16 trillion Net messages versus 11 trillion SMS messages.

 

"The rise of virtual phone numbers, which (Internet-based) messaging companies can create without piggybacking on carriers, contributes to that growth. Teens who once would have racked up huge overage fees can now turn their iPod Touches and tablets into phones without buying text or data plans," it said.

 

On the other hand, the study said 2013 may be the first year that the number of Net messages catches up with the number of SMS messages, at 10 trillion.

 

Net messaging is then expected to overtake SMS messaging in 2014, it added.

 

"Just two years ago, smartphone users sent just over 2 trillion (Net) messages compared to more than 8 trillion SMS messages," TechHive said, citing the study.

 

'New tech'

 

TechHive quoted Giovanni Benini, Tyntec’s director of product management, as saying that when SMS was invented in the 1990s, it was more of a side product.

 

Yet, it said SMS became a major moneymaker for wireless carriers, because they are transmitted leveraging existing cell phone towers and cost carriers almost nothing to send.

 

“Nobody expected people to start texting like crazy. We see for the first time that this growth is reduced, not because people don’t want to text anymore, but because there’s a new technology coming up,” Benini said.

 

But Net messaging has alreadycut into carriers’ revenues.

 

In 2011, mobile operators worldwide saw a 9 percent drop in messaging revenue, and TechHive said that trend "is expected to continue."

 

Tyntec's Benini foresees carriers hanging on to SMS texts but promoting unlimited texting plans bundled with voice and data, at least for the next five years.

 

"Businesses are also sticking to SMS as a reliable way to reach a wide subset of customers," it said. — TJD/RSJ, GMA News