(ps yellowjacket, TIA for that Google Mobile follow-up earlier...I appreciate it and was a good angle of view to ponder!...Also, I meant to direct a portion of that MScarb post # 62009 earlier towards you about my thought process on traversing, etc...I recall your post to me last week about possible traversing by another company....sorry I didn't respond sooner, lol but "I Hear You"...anyway, the lid seems like it is ready to blow off this sucker soon (to put it in plain ol laymens terms, jmho, lol) everywhere one turns these days it seems the tipping point is staring at us, lol.....I bet it is even difficult for "the great PP" to keep up with all this Mobile marketing and mobile phenom stuff of late:-))...NOT!...Anwyay, "BRING IT ON!"...hope all is well and have a good one!....)
Mollie Houghtaling is not supposed to use her cell phone during class at Cherry Creek High School in the Denver area, but keeping in touch with friends and an older sister away at college sometimes outweighs the rules.
She has even gone to the bathroom just to use her phone. (lol)
But she's not having voice conversations. Houghtaling is using her phone to type in text messages -- short, quick notes beamed instantly to another cell phone.
"I do get caught with it (in school) sometimes," said the 16-year old sophomore. "I love text messaging on my phone; I think it's so much easier (than talking)."
Houghtaling and others like her are driving explosive growth in text messaging nationwide. Americans sent more than 7 billion text messages in June 2005, up a whopping 154 percent from the 2.9 billion messages sent in June 2004, according to the latest figures available from Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, a wireless trade industry group.
That's translating into explosive revenue growth for cell phone providers -- and opening new business opportunities for companies that advertise directly to people's cell phones, for example.
Cingular is the nation's largest cell phone company -- with 54 million customers. Those customers sent 6.1 billion text messages during the last three months of 2005, according to spokeswoman Anne Marshall.
The company netted $4.71 in average revenue per user, or more than $254 million, on data services -- which includes text messaging -- during the fourth quarter of 2005. That's a 63
percent increase from the same quarter of 2004. Cingular's total fourth-quarter revenues were $8.8 billion.
Forrester Research estimates that text messaging will generate about $4.3 billion in revenue by the end of 2006.
There has been rapid growth in "texting" since 2003, the year the wireless industry made it possible for cell phone users from all carriers to contact one another via text messages. Before that, text messages could only be sent to and from same-carrier cell phones -- one Sprint user to another, for example.
Some research indicates that more than 60 percent of all text messages are sent by cell phone users under 25.
A text message is a simple, short message sent directly from one cell phone user to another. Unlike e-mail, there's no need to log into a special account with a username or password. Just find the text messaging option on your cell phone, type in the recipient's number and then type in your message.
Notes such as "Where R U?" and "Meet me L8R" are popular, since text messages are generally limited to 160 characters. There are a number of widely used abbreviations, and many phones come equipped with preset messages to ease the repetitive strain on your thumbs.
"Cellphone customers who text are good at getting their thoughts down in concise fashion," said Charles Golvin, an analyst at Forrester Research. "People think of it as meaningless conversation and chatter, but it's an extremely efficient form of communication."
Television shows such as "American Idol" are tapping into the phenomenon by taking text-message votes for people's favorite singer. Amber alerts about missing children are also sent out to cell phones.
Verizon Wireless, the nation's No. 2 cell phone company, expects demand for data such as text, photos, music and video to grow dramatically.
"We expect in the coming years that wireless data for both business and consumer customers will exceed the demand for voice services," said Bob Kelley, a Verizon Wireless spokesman.
Verizon is spending $5 billion to upgrade its wireless network to better handle increased use of data by its 51.3 million customers.
Others outside the wireless industry are taking note, as advertising directly to a person's cellphone is an alternative form of niche marketing. In just a few years, walking down Denver's 16th Street Mall might make your cell phone ring several times with discount offers from Starbucks or an advertisement for a new movie. McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts have already gone the coupon route, sending out discount offers to cell phones.
Cell phone users have to "opt-in," or choose to receive text messages from advertisers.
Boulder, Co.-based Mobile Accord sees mobile marketing as the next wave in advertising. The company, founded in June, originally concentrated on getting donations for nonprofit groups by sending text messages to cell phone customers. But now it's shifting attention to major product brands such as Coke and Burger King.
In February, the company held a luge trivia contest during the Olympics to generate interest and support for the American team. Cell phone users could type in the word "luge" and a phone number to get five trivia questions sent to their phones and be entered into a drawing, said Mike Ricci, Mobile Accord's vice president of marketing. Hundreds of cellphone customers responded, Ricci said.
While text messaging might be fun and easy, it also comes at a price.
The Houghtaling family has a Cingular plan that includes five phones. Mollie has a monthly allotment of 2,500 incoming and outgoing messages, and said she wouldn't want advertisers sending her text messages.
"I do go over my limit sometimes," she said. "If (an ad) doesn't cost me, I don't mind, but if costs me one of my text messages, then I do."
Without a text-messaging plan with either unlimited or a specific allotment of outgoing and incoming messages, customers can receive an unexpected shock when opening the monthly bill.
Sue Wyman's daughter Riley, 17, ran up $70 in additional charges one month on her Cingular cell phone, after she began flirting with a boy at school who had a Verizon cell phone.
"If it's a reasonable amount like $5 to $10, (they'll) pay it, but one month I went over on my minutes and texting, so they made me pay it," Riley Wyman said.
The Wyman family, who live in Denver, switched to Verizon, which allows customers to call other customers for free, Sue Wyman said, although a daughter in Europe still has her Cingular phone.
Unlimited text messages are a flat $5 per month between Verizon customers.
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