Mobile messaging volumes to quadruple by 2007

Messaging services such as SMS and MMS will continue to grow over the next five years, pushed by operators that realise the money they bring in per megabyte of traffic is far above that of voice and other services.

Telecoms consultancy Analysys forecasts the mobile messaging market will grow from $31bn in 2002, $13bn of which comes from Western Europe, to $69bn by 2007, $25bn generated in Western Europe.

The drivers will be new applications for SMS and the take up of the relatively new MMS and mobile instant messaging (IM).

The latest Analysys research points out why network operators like messaging. A voice call generates less than $1 per megabyte of network resource consumed. However, the typical text message rakes in over $1,000 per megabyte, something operators have long realised.

In line with other estimates, Analysys predicts the volume of SMS, MMS and mobile IM/email will quadruple between 2002 and 2007 to 2,600 billion, 607 billion of which will be in Western Europe.