Low tech still has a role to play

SMS (or 'text' as termed in some countries) is still going strong despite the proliferation of alternative forms of communication. As a short list of alternatives would at least consist of skype, twitter, email, instant chat, facebook, linkedin and then 'normal' voice calls.

In the face of this apparent competition, according to Ofcom the volume of SMS sent around the world is still increasing year-on-year above natural growth (population related), even in mature markets.

No doubt price-related factors have an effect on consumers' willingness to text, especially the incidence of bucket and unlimited-use plans which have shaken up the market over the last 5 years.

However, retail prices are in fact still relatively high in most jurisdictions. Benchmark retail price data from BEREC illustrates that in the EEA at least prices are actually relatively high across most of Europe which ensurers they are a revenue bonaza for the operators:

There's clearly something to be said for the personal touch and accessibility of plain old SMS which modern forms of communication have been unable to supersede. Old doesn't always mean out of date.