Text Hits New High As March Marks New Record

March saw the heaviest text messaging on record by British mobile phone users, topping last December with a massive 3.19 billion messages being sent during the month.

The figures, released by the Mobile Data Association (MDA), show person-to-person texts sent across the UK’s mobile phone networks increasing by 24% on March 2005, with an average of 103 million messages being sent each day.

MDA states that the new record may be a result of Mother’s Day falling on 26 March, although it is equally likely that the increase is the result of continued mobile phone adoption and familiarity by the public.

Last month saw the BBC release the results of its survey into the declining use of handwriting, and the rise of text messaging and e-mail. The Corporation reported that “media consumption in the digital age” consists mainly of electronic communication, with just 13% taking place using pen and paper, while 29% of written communication is via text message.

BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk