SmartSMS™ is a state of the art mobile marketing agency that specializes in creating and managing mobile marketing applications in over 17 countries worldwide. SmartSMS™ maintains a catalog of over 250 mobile applications, ranging from text chat services to multi-media applications, such as the delivery of ringtones, pictures, and screensavers. SmartSMS™ differs from the others by being the first to develop unique marketing concepts that incorporate the latest innovations in mobile technology that create block buster campaigns.

With SMS still accounting for approximately 90% of European operators’ non-voice revenues, operators have been aggressively working to step up the value of SMS through premium SMS - content-based SMS that requires mobile-phone users to pay a premium tariff for special value-added services or content.

The hype surrounding premium SMS is at an all-time high. Currently, the bulk of premium rate SMS activity is largely confined to GSM operators in Europe. SMART started this revolution in early 2000, and thrives to continue the trend here, in the United States.

Mobile operators in many regions of the world are now heavily pushing their SMS services to third-party content providers as a way to offer content to mobile customers. For example, well-known consumer brands such as Sony, Nike and Pepsi and media outlets have now integrated SMS into their marketing strategies.

Television broadcasters are also jumping on the bandwagon. Game shows, reality television, and channels targeted at teenagers and young adults are now starting to use text messaging to enhance their programs with interactive features. American Idol, for example, had 28 million SMS sent over just a few hours. So calculate, at $0.99 per message, that’s…!

"The worldwide explosion in the text message phenomena - or SMS - had reached in excess of a quarter-of-a-trillion messages a day by end September, mobile originated alone, according to figures released today by the GSM Association, the worldwide voice of mobile network operators.

Early forecasts for the end of year Holiday Season and New Year period - a peak time for text traffic - estimate that 500 billion mobile-to-mobile messages will be sent during this time - ninety for every person on the planet!

As use has exploded, so too has the range of applications. Sports results, betting services, lottery-style games, and financial services are all taking to SMS.

Nevertheless, straightforward person-to-person 'texting' still accounts for the bulk of the traffic and has led to the development of a unique language that is now part of a global youth culture.

The text craze is strongest in Europe with the Scandinavian countries particularly to the fore, but other parts of the world are catching on fast. The Philippines, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand are all seeing rapid rises in SMS take-up, with the United States finally emerging into this lucrative market."

Given this level of hype and speculation, this market is primed for SMS to take off here in the United States and SMART puts it all together for you.