Malaysians Are World’s 6th Largest SMS Users

Malaysia ranks sixth in the world in terms of total SMS volume, behind China, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia and India, Maxis head of strategy and new businesses Dr Nikolai Dobberstein said.

Malaysia came ahead of countries like the UK and South Korea, he said, quoting data from Gartner research that showed SMS volume growing 20% last year. About 50 billion SMSes were generated in Malaysia last year, behind India’s 70 billion and Indonesia’s 90 billion.

China is well ahead in the lead with approximately 560 billion SMSes, followed by the Philippines’ 430 billion and Japan’s 190 billion. Malaysia has 23.3 million registered mobile phone users as at end-2007, translating to an 86% mobile penetration.

Dobberstein was speaking to reporters at the launch of ‘Message Plus’, a service aimed at helping customers better manage their SMS communications.

By subscribing to the package at RM1 a month, Maxis’ 10 million postpaid and prepaid subscribers, will have the option to block unwanted text messages set an “out-of-office” type reply. (The Edge Daily)