Text messaging remains the most widely used data application in the UK, with 2007 revenues nearly three times the figures for data revenue. Regulator Ofcom revealed in its hefty annual survey of the communications market published today that SMS revenue for 2007 was £2.7 billion pounds, compared with £1 billion for data revenues and £11.4 billion for voice.

The use of the humble text message, despite the growth in email, instant messaging and multimedia messaging on mobile, rose 32 percent in 2007, making the UK most text-crazy country in Europe. UK consumers send an average of 67 messages a month per handset, compared to 22.8 texts per month sent by German consumers, and 20.4 messages per month by the French (though the German and French figures are from 2006, while the UK figure is from 2007).

Ofcom also found that 44 percent of UK adults use text messaging on a daily basis, compared to 36 percent who use the internet, which the regulator put down to the ubiquity of the mobile phone and the ease and simplicity of SMS. Full coverage at our sister site mocoNews...