U.S. text messaging activity breaks record

Triple-tapping continues to explode, according to new figures from VeriSign Inc.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based company said it delivered 95.4 billion inter-carrier text messages in the first half of 2008, establishing a new record for text messaging activity during the period. VeriSign also reported a single-day record of 648 million texts and a one-hour record of 42 million messages.
The company said it delivered more than 52 billion messages during the second quarter of 2008, up more than 20% from the previous quarter. It saw a daily average of 572 million messages, more than doubling the 230 million per day during the second quarter of 2007.
Text message usage is expected to grow in the near future as the application continues to gain mass-market traction in North America and some emerging markets. But mobile instant messaging eventually will cannibalize SMS and computer-based e-mail, according to a recent study from TNS Technology, as users eschew messaging fees in favor of all-you-can-eat data plans.