Research group Informa have revealed that more smartphone users use in-app messaging services now than the traditional network operated text messaging. Services such as WhatsApp, BBM, iMessage and Facebook have overtaken the traditional network text message for the first time ever.
Informa claims that 17.6 billion mobile phone text messages were sent worldwide on average each day in 2012, but a huge 19 billion messages were sent per day via free in app messaging platforms.
The BBC has been speaking to Pamela Clark-Dickson of Informa, where she states that “There is a lot of life still in SMS,” even though some operators were already “seeing a decline in their messaging revenues”.
Informa have also projected that nearly 50 billion messages will be sent per day using these apps by 2014, compared with just over 21 billion traditional SMS messages.
With the way people use text messaging and their mobile networks changing, many are seeing free app messaging as the future, but with many customers not having access to mobile data plans text messaging will still be hanging around for years to come.
UK networks such as Everything Everywhere are taking a very modern approach to contract smartphones as they offer free SMS messages and calls and a selection of monthly data amounts instead of a set amount of calls and texts per month.
This may be the future for many networks as smartphones and apps increasingly change the way we use technology, so a change in the way charges are made is inevitable.
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