Text Messages

Study reveals the top U.S. texting markets

Phil Goldstein — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:26:16 -0500

A study by Scarborough Research has found that El Paso, Texas, is the top texting market in the U.S., where 57 percent of phone users over the age of 18 send text messages, compared to 48 percent of adults nationally. Salt Lake City, Dallas, Memphis, Tenn., and Cincinnati rounded out the top five markets. Release

Major carriers deny text-messaging price fix

Phil Goldstein — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:35:55 -0400

The major incumbent wireless carriers responded to U.S. Senator Herb Kohl's charge that they have been colluding to fix text-messaging prices, and denied any wrongdoing. Article

AT&T launches new quick-texting phones

Phil Goldstein — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 11:19:03 -0400

Ahead of the holiday shopping season, AT&T Mobility has launched a new line of phones specifically geared toward text-messaging capabilities.

AT&T debuted the Pantech Matrix today, which will be followed by the Samsung Propeland Pantech Slate later this month and the followed by the UTStarcom Quickfire in November. All four phones have full QWERTY keyboards and are available under AT&T's messaging plans that offer 200, 1,500 and unlimited messaging for $5, $15 and $20, respectively.

The Pantech Matrix and Samsung Propel are $79.99 with a two-year service contract after a $50 mail-in rebate, and the Slate is $49.99 and Quickfire is $99.99, both with two-year contracts and $50 mail-in rebates.

For more:
- see this release
- see pictures of all these quick text phones in our slideshow

Related Articles:
AT&T: Parents text most often with their children
Mobile messaging volume increases more than 20% in Q2

Verizon to charge businesses 3 cents for certain texts

Phil Goldstein — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:28:03 -0400

Verizon Wireless said it was adding a 3-cent fee to mobile-terminated text messages going across its network, beginning Nov. 1. Article

Senator sends a text message

Jim Barthold — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:06:52 -0400

As two presidential candidates rail against the Washington "establishment," a member of that elite group has raised some issues about how wireless carriers make money. Specifically, Wisconsin Democrat Sen. Herb Kohl thinks there's a correlation between rising text messaging rates and decreased wireless competition and he wants the carriers to explain themselves.

Kohl, who chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights sent letters to top execs at Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile asking them to justify the "sharply rising rates" they charge to send and receive text messages.

Kohl, who apparently doesn't oversee gas prices and isn't concerned with cable rates, expressed particular angst that all four carriers seem to have adopted identical price increases in a short time frame, writing in the letter that this conduct "is hardly consistent with the vigorous price competition we hope to see in a competitive marketplace." Ironically, Kohl's interest sprang up at the same time European Commission regulators threatened to impose a cap on roaming fees for text messages sent to Europeans traveling outside their home nations.

For more:
- see this article

Related:
Obama introduces text-messaging initiative. Article

Obama text message promise proves unworkable

Sue Marek — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:19:02 -0400

Sen. Barack Obama's promise to supporters that they would be the first to know of his vice presidential running mate via text messaging turned out to be a bit of an ambitious promise. The Democratic presidential candidate got scooped by the media on his own announcement.

Late Friday the national networks started naming Sen. Joseph Biden as Obama's pick but the Obama campaign didn't dispatch the text message to Obama supporters until 3 a.m. EST Saturday. Some received the message right away, but some messages were delayed for a few hours. Neither Obama's camp nor Distributive Networks, the Washington, D.C.-based firm that facilitated the text campaign, will reveal how many text messages were sent to supporters notifying them of the Democratic candidate's VP choice.

Obama's plan to use text messaging to announce his choice was a first in politics. He had promised supporters that by providing cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses they would be the first to hear the news of his choice for vice president.

For more:
See this Associated Press story

Related stories:
Obama dominates mobile web searches
Obama introduces text-messaging initiative

"American Idol" generates 78 million SMS messages

Sue Marek — Fri, 23 May 2008 10:24:25 -0400

AT&T is touting its text messaging traffic surge generated by "American Idol" fans who used their cell phones to vote for their pick. This season's show generated more than 78 million text messages for AT&T, which is the exclusive sponsor of the show. During the previous season, the show generated 64.5 million text messages. The carrier added new elements to this year's contest by using text messaging to inform the final three contestants of the Producer's Choice selection via their Apple iPhones.

Not to be outdone by its competitor, Verizon Wireless decided to promote its text messaging volumes today. The carrier announced that it delivered 58 billion text messages during the first quarter of 2008.

For more:
- see this release
- see this Verizon statement

Related stories:
AT&T tunes up for another season of Idol. See this AT&T story.
American Idol sets SMS record. See this AT&T story.

Virgin Mobile USA subs earn minutes from Facebook

Thu, 15 May 2008 11:30:14 -0400

Virgin Mobile USA announced the Fund My Phone application, which extends the operator's Sugar Mama marketing program to the Facebook social networking platform and enables consumers to earn wireless airtime for their fellow Virgin Mobile subscribers. Over 700,000 Virgin Mobile USA customers have joined the Sugar Mama initiative since its 2006 launch, viewing ad spots, responding to branded text messages and completing surveys to earn free airtime--with Fund My Phone, consumers download the app to their Facebook profile page and share up to five different spots with Facebook friends, scoring free minutes as the ads are viewed.

For more on Fund My Phone:
-read this release

Related articles:
Virgin Mobile USA teams with Limbo
Virgin Mobile USA: Ringbacks on the rise
Facebook for Mobile Operators debuts on Vodafone
Frengo flirts with Facebook for mobile dating

On the Hot Seat with Bluepulse's Christopher Nguyen

Mike Dolan — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:49:29 -0400

It's not often that a senior executive at Google steps down from his post to head a new startup but that's exactly what Christopher Nguyen, former engineering director of Google, did when he joined social messaging firm Bluepulse as its CTO and vice president of engineering. FierceWireless editor-in-chief Sue Marek recently talked with Nguyen about this 2008 Fierce 15 award winning venture and why it's different from all the other mobile messaging companies.

FierceWireless: Why did you leave Google to join Bluepulse? What was the appeal?

Nguyen: From my personal perspective if you look at my profile, my background has been about building things. I started my career by building a university [Nguyen was a professor at Hong Kong University of Science & Technology] and I've built and sold three companies so far. That has a certain rush of adrenaline every time you do it and I look forward to doing it over and over again. The only thing I haven't done is build a company that is worth more than $1 billion from scratch. I see Bluepulse as having that potential.

If you look at the mobile industry and its convergence with the Web, I think the potential is enormous.

FierceWireless: What specifically about this company was so appealing?

Nguyen: Mobile as an industry is about to explode. There is a shift of users from the Web to the mobile device. Mobile is a logical place, the device is always with you. The only thing limiting you is the capabilities. I grew up in the Bay area but after I finished my Ph.D., I went to Asia and lived there for 10 years. The people there live and breathe mobile technology. It weaves into people's lives. For five years, we didn't have a landline phone. We always had mobiles. Everyone in the company communicated with each other using SMS. I think over the next six to 12 months it will take off. The only question is whether it will be Bluepulse or another player.

FierceWireless: What is the value proposition for Bluepulse? There are other similar companies, what makes Bluepulse special?

Nguyen: The passion of CEO Ben Keighran matches mine. When they were pursuing me for this job, I asked them what is your end-game? If you are planning to sell this company for $50 to $60 million, I'm not interested. If you want to build a global platform, something worth $1 billion, sign me up.

Also Bluepulse is very focused in one area. Mobile is a very loose way to group this. There are a lot of different players in mobile, especially in the transition from Web to mobile. But no one is focused on mobile messaging as a hill to be conquered. There are instant messaging technologies, voicemail technologies, SMS and VOIP calls. Each player has its own area it's trying to build out. We are the only ones that I see focused on mobile messaging as the killer app. If you ask 100 people what is one activity that you would want to do--if I gave you an application that would allow you to update your status and let friends know what you are doing, about 10 people may want to do that. But if you ask 100 people if they want to communicate and send messages to families and friends, I think the answer will be 98 saying yes. We are very focused on an unexciting but mass market vertical application with Bluepulse.

FierceWireless: So you are focusing on unified communications? Is that the right term for this?

Nguyen: I have a philosophy that when you change something, you only change one variable at a time. You don't force the user to change too many variables at one time. In the desktop platform, everybody emails. As you change the technology platform to mobile they will want to do some type of messaging. Bluepulse is focused on that. Other people are doing excellent things on the mobile platform that are different from what we are doing.

FierceWireless: You say you deliver more than 150 million messages per month to users in more than 190 countries around the globe. How did you get that reach so quickly?

Nguyen: Bluepulse started as a client application but the key differentiating factor was that it worked on all phones in the world. It delivered a lot of widgets, which could do anything from IM chat to horoscope. Ben [Keighran, CEO of Bluepulse] noticed that what attracted the traffic and what retained users was the communication application more than other applications. In June of last year, the team decided to focus on delivering that. They changed from a client-based application to a Web-based application so it is more accessible to people.

FierceWireless: How do you make money?

Nguyen: Today, we don't. We are strategically focused on getting reach. I have a lot of theories on building companies. You always have to make difficult choices about where to invest your limited resources. No matter how large you are, your resources are limited. Bluepulse is facing the decision today about whether you focus on growing the user base or do you try to monetize this? You have to choose one. The observation I have made is that if you grow the user base, it is much more defensible in a competitive position. If you launch a revenue model, within seven days everyone can copy it. So as long as we believe there are ways to make money with a mobile platform, the right thing to do at the moment is grow the user base.

This isn't a theory. I've done this before.

FierceWireless: Will there be a role for the wireless carrier in your business?

Nguyen: This sounds like a politically correct answer but I believe it. There is a huge value in terms of the data connectivity that carriers can provide. AT&T is realizing this with the iPhone. I think the carriers have a huge role to play in that. But as the industry matures, the platform becomes open and you have more innovation. It will draw more data usage for the infrastructure and infrastructure players should be very happy.

Orange: Texting is for old people

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 06:59:54 -0400

Recent research conducted by TNS and sponsored by U.K. carrier Orange indicates that mobile users who adopt mobile instant messaging services subsequently reduce their use of SMS. Orange noted that older people still use text messaging even once they begin to use mobile IM. According to the report 38 out of every 100 messages (which include email, texts and picture messages) sent by users with no access to mobile IM are text messages. When those users gain access to mobile IM the figure drops to 23 text messages out of 100 messages.

For more on the study:
- read this article from Textually.org

Verizon Wireless adds 1.5M customers

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:59:58 -0400

Verizon Wireless executives said this morning that the operator is weathering the strong economic uncertainty and fails to show any signs of weakness. The company reported that first quarter net adds were 1.5 million, bringing its total subscriber base to 67.2 million. That's down from 2 million net adds in fourth quarter 2007. Revenues totaled $11.7 billion, up 13.2 percent year over year.Ã‚Â Here's a breakdown of the other key metrics:Ã‚Â Ã‚Â

ARPU:Ã‚Â Retail ARPU was $51.40, up 1.3 percent year over year. However, this is slightly down from fourth quarter 2007 when the operator had an ARPU of $51.49.Ã‚Â Ã‚Â Ã‚Â

Data: Data ARPU was $11.94, up from $11.06 in fourth quarter 2007. Data now represents 23 percent of total service revenue up from 17.5 percent a year ago.Ã‚Â Data revenues were $2.3 billion. The company had 48.1 million retain data customers in March, accounting for 74 percent of the retail customer base. Ã‚Â

Churn: Total churn is 1.19 percent, down from 1.2 percent total churn in fourth quarter 2007.Ã‚Â Retail post-paid churn is 0.93 percent, down from 0.94 percent in fourth quarter. Ã‚Â

700 MHz spectrum: Verizon executives say that the company increased its spectrum inventory by 60 percent thanks to its wins in the 700 MHz spectrum auction.Ã‚Â Ã‚Â

Content: Verizon Wireless customers sent or received more than 58 billion text messages and 1.1 billion picture/video messages. Customers downloaded 34.6 million songs and videos.Ã‚Â Ã‚Â

For more,
- see this Verizon press release

Related stories:
Verizon Wireless adds 2M customers. Verizon earnings
Carrier Metrics: Churn, ARPU and subs for 2007. Wireless carrier metrics.

FCC approves SMS-based national alert system

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:59:56 -0400

Stemming from requirements in the Warning Alert and Response Network Act of 2006, the FCC has approved a plan to create a nationwide emergency alert system that makes use of text messages sent to mobile phones. The system could be in place by 2010. Carriers will not be required to participate in the program and subscribers will be able to opt out. Alerts could fall into one of three categories: a national alert from the president probably related to terrorism or natural disaster; an alert regarding imminent threats like school shootings, hurricanes and tornadoes; or Amber Alerts for missing children.

For more on the service:
- read this article from the WSJ (sub. req.)

SPOTLIGHT: Alltel's text-to-landline service launches

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 06:59:52 -0400

Messaging services provider Messaging International announced that its TeleMessage subsidiary inked a deal with Alltel Wireless to launch its Text-to-Landline application across the operator's network. Text-to-Landline enables Alltel subscribers to send text messages from their wireless handset to any landline phone--each SMS is converted to voice for landline recipients, and their voice response is converted back to text for wireless users. Article

CTIA: Annual data revenues grow to $23 billion

Jason Ankeny — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:12:59 -0400

The U.S. wireless subscriber market now totals in excess of 255 million--roughly 84 percent of the nation's population--according to new metrics released by industry group CTIA in concert with its CTIA Wireless 2008 event in Las Vegas. According to CTIA, U.S. subscribers now consume more than 2 trillion minutes of airtime a year and send and receive more than 48 billion text messages per month. Combined data revenues now total about $23 billion a year, accounting for 17 percent of total carrier revenue. "These numbers illustrate the incredible volume of traffic carriers successfully manage every day," said CTIA president and CEO Steve Largent during Tuesday's keynote.

Spinvox considers IPO

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 07:59:56 -0400

Spinvox, the company that converts voicemails into text messages, is once again pursuing an initial public offering (IPO) or other fundraising options. The company has hired Goldman Sachs to handle the potential IPO. Spinvox launched in 2003 and now serves users in seven different countries. It expects to hit 30 million users by year-end. The business is reportedly worth about $400 million. Spinvox hopes to achieve similar success to its rival Nuance Communications, which is currently listed on Nasdaq and worth $3.6 billion. Spinvox's CEO Christina Domecq said teased the idea of an IPO last August. The company also considered an IPO in 2006 but dropped its plans.

For more on Spinvox's plans:
- read this article from the Times Online

Verizon Wireless expects double digit rev growth

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:59:57 -0400

Verizon Wireless said it expects double digit annual revenue growth for the next few years. Verizon CFO Doreen Toben made the comments during an investor call. Toben also reviewed some key financial metrics for the carrier: During 2007 data revenue increased 65 percent over the year before, while retail data ARPU climbed 44 percent. At the end of 2007, 55 percent of Verizon Wireless' retail base had broadband capable devices and there was a 146 percent increase in text messages.

For more on Verizon Wireless' expected growth:
- tune into the archived investors' webcast

T-Mobile USA faces SMS lawsuit

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 06:59:56 -0500

T-Mobile USA is facing a class action lawsuit filed by subscribers who claim to have been charged for text messages even though they do not want the feature. The subscribers claim that T-Mobile should disable SMS features for those who do not wish to use SMS or receive texts at all.

"T-Mobile requires each of its customers who have not subscribed to one of T-Mobile's Messaging Value Bundles to pay for each and every unsolicited text message they receive," the suit claims. "In sum, T-Mobile, the party with the superior bargaining power, has carried out a wrongful business scheme regarding text messaging to deliberately cheat a large number of consumers out of individually small sums of money."

For more on T-Mobile's class action lawsuit:
- read this article from RCR News

O2 U.K. gives iPhone users new plan rates

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 06:59:55 -0500

After three months of iPhone sales in the U.K., O2 is beefing up the data plans of the lower tier users and cutting the price of heavy data plans. The plans will become effective in mid-March. O2's $70 data plan will now offer three times as many texts and minutes and the $110 plan will be cut to $90 starting this Friday. The carrier also plans to introduce a new $150 plan with 3,000 minutes and 500 text messages.

For more on the new U.K. iPhone plans:
- read this article from the BBC

Helio CEO Sky Dayton steps down

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 06:59:57 -0500

Mobile virtual network operator Helio announced that founding CEO Sky Dayton has resigned his post, with president and COO Wonhee Sull named as his replacement. Dayton was appointed non-executive Chairman of Helio's Board of Directors--the company said he will remain actively involved in shaping its strategy and initiatives. "Helio has reached a point in its development where I feel the timing is right for this change," Dayton said in a statement.

Dayton's move will no doubt further speculation that EarthLink (the ISP he founded in 1994) is planning to sell its stake in Helio, which it launched in association with Korean operator SK Telecom. Last fall EarthLink president and CEO Rolla Huff reiterated the company's commitment to Helio: "I think that the investment that we've made there absolutely has value," Huff insisted at the time. "We have no plans to go out and sell it. It's a growing business. It's a business that we support."

In announcing Dayton's resignation, Helio also reported usage statistics for its nearly 200,000 subscribers, claiming an ARPU of $85 and a 2007 revenue run rate of over $240 million based on December actuals. Helio also reported:

An average of over 550 text messages per member per month
95 percent of subscribers access the web via mobile device
Each month, 60 percent of subscribers access MySpace via Helio and average nearly 500 page views
In December, subscribers uploaded photos from their device to the web at a rate of five times the industry average
57 percent of Ocean users downloaded Helio's exclusive YouTube application within two weeks of its launch -Jason

For more on Dayton's resignation:
-read this release

Related articles:
SK Telecom pumps another $270M into Helio
Helio squashes rumors of massive layoffs
Helio to succeed where Mobile ESPN failed?
Helio adds online content, feels the Heat
Helio reveals plans, partners for mobile gamingÃ‚Â Ã‚Â

Verizon Wireless adds 2M customers

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 06:59:58 -0500

Verizon Wireless reported a strong fourth quarter 2007 with 2 million net customer additions, bringing its total subscriber base to 65.7 million. Of those, 63.7 million are retail customers. On the revenue front, Verizon Wireless fourth quarter revenue was $11.4 billion, a 13.3 percent increase year over year.Ã‚Â Here's a breakdown of other key metrics:

Churn: Verizon has 1.2 percent total churn, down from 1.27 percent churn in third quarter 2007. The carrier had just 0.94 percent retail post-paid churn, down from 0.96 percent postpaid churn in third quarter. Ã‚Â

ARPU:Ã‚Â Retail ARPU was $51.49, up 1.4 percent over third quarter.Ã‚Â Ã‚Â Ã‚Â

Data:Ã‚Â Total data revenue for fourth quarter was $2.1 billion. Data ARPU was $11.06, up from $10.59 in third quarter. The company had 47.2 million retail data customers in December, which is 74 percent of the retail customer base.Ã‚Â In addition, the company says that more than half of its customer base, 35 million, have a broadband-capable device.Ã‚Â Ã‚Â

Content: During fourth quarter Verizon customers sent or received nearly 45 billion text messages and 927 million picture/video messages. Customers also completed 30 million music and video downloads.Ã‚Â

During this morning's earnings call, analysts questioned the firm about what impact the current economic slowdown is having on the operator. Verizon executives said that they have not seen a change in sales expectations but they are monitoring the situation carefully. -Sue

For more on Verizon's Q4:
- check out our complete wireless, wireline, mobile content and telcoTV coverage
- also read Verizon's press release