SMS sizzles in Singapore
You no longer need to be online to be in constant touch with your friends
or colleagues across the world. Thanks to SMS (Short Message Service), your buddy list from your desktop (think ICQ 2000b) can now be a part of your mobile phone. Users can send and receive
text messages--almost like a mini email--to and from their mobile phones
or Web sites, in real time.
SMS was created as part of the GSM Phase 1 standard. The first short message is believed to have been sent in December 1992 from a PC to a mobile phone on the Vodafone GSM network in the UK. Analysts estimated that 12 billion SMS messages were sent worldwide during the month of December last year. Further estimates showed a 1 percent claim by Singapore during the festive season late last year, at a cool 150 million messages sent.
It's a new mobile culture
Economy! Undoubtedly, low cost of communication is what lures most mobile
phone users to use SMS. While operators like StarHub offer free incoming SMS messages, most service providers charge between five and 10 cents in Singapore for messages sent and received. One must also take note of the new "mobile culture" that has emerged in the last two years. The penetration of mobile devices has claimed a permanent stronghold in the youth market, egged on by numerous packages offered by operators which have a knack for bundling free SMS messages with new consumer plans.
It's no wonder then that the younger set of mobile users have latched on to this phenomenon early.
A good indication of the SMS success story is given by Singapore operators. For example, on Valentine's Day, StarHub estimated a 20 percent increase in the number of SMS messages sent in Singapore as compared to regular days. Rivals M1 quoted a high 3.7 million figure, while SingTel Mobile indicated 3 million text messages exchanged. Getting users hooked on to such text services on cellphones also sets the stage for future services when newer networks are set up for faster Internet access.
"They want people to get used to it so that when 3G is launched, consumers are familiar with using the phone key pad for text," said Rachel Miu, an analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research Singapore Pte Ltd. Messaging is fast, cheap and convenient. No wonder this service has exploded on cellular networks and has become the hottest member in the mobile value-added service family. At the service provider end, it means extra moolah. According to M1, data service currently accounts for close to 5 percent of the company's total revenue.
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