Over 2 Trillion SMS In 2008?

USA-2.3 trillion SMS will be sent in major markets worldwide in 2008, Gartner, leading information technology research and advisory company predicts. That’s up nearly 20 percent from 2007, while messaging revenues will grow about 16 percent to US$60.2 billion. North America will see significant growth,with Gartner saying more than 300 billion messages will be sent in 2008, up from a predicted 189 billion this year.

In Western Europe, though, growth is slowing, and the firm says that person-to-person SMS revenues there may peak in 2007, thanks to price cuts and message bundles. To combat this slowing growth in P2P messaging, Gartner says operators should look to social-networking services to drive traffic as well as mobile search and advertising.