43 Billion Text Messages, Verifies VeriSign

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VeriSign, Inc, a provider of digital
infrastructure for the networked world, announced that its Mobile
Messaging Index for Q1 2008 indicates single-day and quarterly mobile
messaging records have been broken. In addition, the numbers strongly
suggest that the annual mobile messaging record will be shattered in
2008.

VeriSign’s combined mobile messaging networks enabled more than 43
billion messages in Q1 2008, up more than 34 percent from Q4 2007 and
an increase of approximately 154 percent from Q1 2007. That total
includes a single-day record 538 million SMS messages on Valentine’s
Day handled by VeriSign’s network alone. Based on that number, VeriSign
estimates roughly 2.12 billion mobile messages were exchanged across
all networks on Valentine’s Day.

Annual mobile messaging records for totals and revenue, set in 2007,
are almost certain to be eclipsed. As the use of mobile messaging
continues to skyrocket, the annual record VeriSign set in 2007 — over
96 billion mobile messages handled — could be surpassed by the end of
Q3 2008. As of March 31, VeriSign already had handled 45 percent as
many mobile messages this year as it did in all of 2007. In doing so,
VeriSign enabled more than $1.6 billion in revenue in Q1 2008 for
mobile messaging customers worldwide — one-third the total revenue
enabled by VeriSign in this market in all of 2007.

“Wireless subscribers continue to adopt mobile messaging in
remarkable numbers as their preferred method for all types of instant
communication,” said Charles Landry, vice president of global messaging
services, VeriSign’s Messaging and Mobile Media division. “While the
marked rise in message volume on holidays such as Valentine’s Day
illustrate how consumers increasingly rely on their mobile device to
communicate instantly on special days, the continued growth of
messaging overall reveals that consumers’ ongoing transition to digital
solutions is just as revolutionary on an average day.”

Landry said he expects future growth in traffic volume to be fueled
by a range of factors, including migration towards the unlimited voice
and data plans by the operators and expansions in both global
enterprises and mobile banking services.

Aside from the holiday spikes, VeriSign figures revealed:

  • In Q1 2008, the number of SMS, or text messages, enabled by
    VeriSign’s combined mobile messaging networks was approximately 476
    million per day, on average. This compares to approximately 352 million
    messages per day in Q4 2007 and approximately 189 million messages per
    day in Q1 2007.
  • While SMS messages remain the single-most popular form of
    messaging, other forms are gaining popularity as well. In Q1 2008,
    approximately 272 million MMS messages, multimedia messages capable of
    delivering audio, video or images, were handled by VeriSign. This
    number represents an increase from approximately 232 million messages
    in Q4 2007 and 122 million messages in Q1 2007, respectively.
    MMS-related revenue enabled to carriers by VeriSign rose from
    approximately $31 million in Q1 2007 to more than $68 million in Q1
    2008.
  • A2P messages, or application-to-person messages that include news
    alerts, ring tones, video clips and related content, rose from
    approximately 155 million messages in Q4 2007 to approximately 187
    million in Q1 2008. Contributing to this growth were increases in SMS
    search, innovative A2P messaging campaigns such as “My GRAMMY® Moment,”
    and the addition of new mobile banking customers. VeriSign now serves
    six of the 10 largest banks in the U.S.
  • VeriSign’s Messaging and Mobile Media division boasts a unique view
    to mobile messaging statistics. By powering inter-carrier mobile
    messaging for seven of the top 10 wireless carriers in North America
    and delivering messages and content for global content providers,
    brands, and enterprises, VeriSign’s combined mobile messaging networks
    (P2P and A2P) connect to more than 500 carriers and reach more than 2
    billion wireless subscribers.

  • To view the full Index, please visit http://www.verisign.com/static/043711.pdf.