January 2, 2004
From around the world: SMS sent over New Year's Eve
Figures are starting to come in on text messages and multimedia messages sent over New Year's.
France: 88 million SMS were sent by the 3 French operators over New Year's (during a 24 hour period). via ZDNet.fr.
UK: The total number of SMS messages sent across UK GSM networks during the period between midnight on 31 December and midnight on 1 January, was 111 million, according to Telecom.paper, beating last year's 102 million record by 8% and and is twice the volume sent on an average day, according to the BBC. But an article in Silicon.com claims the wireless operators badly failed their customers this New Year, with delivery delays and outright failures. "A backlog of SMS messages went undelivered for up to four hours while some never reached their intended recipient at all according to research from Sicap, which provides SMS service infrastructure."
Belgium: The three main Belgian mobile operators counted more than 22 million sms text messages on New Years Eve. Compared to a year ago this is an increase of 7 million messages. via Smart Mobs.
Switzerland: 66,4 million SMS and MMS were sent over the 3 Swiss Networks between December 31st and January 1st (450'000 of which were MMS) compared to 58,2 million SMS sent last year. via Le Matin
Portugual: The Portuguese unit of Vodafone Group PLC processed more than 36 million text messages over the New Year's holiday, while rival Optimus, a unit of conglomerate Sonae SGPS , processed more than 38 million. Portugal Telecom SA , which runs the third cellular operator TMN said it handled 72 million text messages over the New Year's holiday, 23% higher than the same period the previous year. via 160characters.org.
Czech Republic: Czechs received a record number of 38.5 million SMS messages, with most of them arriving between 11 p.m. on Dec 31 and 1 a.m. on January 1. A slight increase on last year although, a year-on-year comparison is difficult to make because some companies have included confirmatory SMS in the total number and also because the operators covered different periods of time in their calculations. via 160characters.org.
India: Short messaging shot through the roof this New Year's eve with an unprecedented 180 per cent increase in volumes to 60 million SMS compared with last year's 21 million. via Business Standard.
South Africa: The cellphone industry recorded 85.5 million short message services (SMS) during the festive season, implying that mobile network operators will continue to generate more revenue as competition for subscribers hots up. via Business Report.
More figures from around the world as soon as they show up.
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