200 Billion Mobile Msgs and $7 Billion in Revs in 2008, Says VeriSign

By Editor Wireless and Mobile News on November 18, 2008 1:08 PM

VeriSign's data shows a record-breaking quarter for mobile messaging statistics.

VeriSign Messaging and Mobile Media Division's combined mobile messaging networks enabled more than 58.3 billion messages in Q3 2008, nearly a 10 percent increase from the previous quarter.

VeriSign facilitated an average of approximately 634 million messages per day in Q3 2008, compared to approximately 572 million messages per day in Q2 2008 and approximately 280 million messages per day in Q3 2007.

These stats verify the projection earlier this year that its combined mobile messaging networks will enable close to 200 billion total messages, worth more than $7 billion in revenue to VeriSign customers by the end of the year.

For the period of Jan. 1- Sept. 30, 2008, VeriSign's combined mobile messaging networks delivered 153 billion total messages while providing 100 percent network availability. This represents a 142 percent increase year-over-year and puts the company on track to more than double last year's total of 95.9 billion mobile messages. VeriSign's network also set a single-day record during Q3 2008 by enabling 702 million texts over a 24-hour period and a one-hour record of 48 million messages on Sept. 5, 2008.

Among some noteworthy trends, charitable fundraising campaigns enabled by the Mobile Giving Foundation and powered by VeriSign have demonstrated new ways of leveraging the mobile channel to support a broad range of worthwhile causes including Stand Up 2 Cancer and Keep a Child Alive. The American Red Cross "Text 2HELP^TM" program, which helps provide food, shelter and other assistance to victims of thousands of disasters across the country each year, has been another successful example of how organizations encourage charitable donations through the use of mobility. The "Text 2HELP" program is coordinated by The Wireless Foundation and powered by VeriSign. In addition, law enforcement organizations such as the Boston Police Department continue to utilize text messaging programs to encourage the public to report crimes more easily and anonymously and ensure public safety.

Enterprises and financial institutions continue to show growing interest in mobile messaging. From Q3 2007 to Q3 2008, the total number of messages delivered rose from 129 to 227 million, marking a 115 percent increase. As SMS continues to mature into the preferred medium for mobile banking, VeriSign's Mobile Banking platform has seen a 35 percent increase in messaging traffic from Q2 2008 to Q3 2008. VeriSign expects to see these numbers grow significantly as its growing global mobile banking customer base now includes seven of the top 10 U.S. banking brands, three of the top five credit card issuers, and a global leader in online payment solutions.

Person-to-Person/Application-to-Person messages (P2P/A2P), such as news alerts, ring tones, promotional video clips, and enterprise messages sent to mobile users, also rose sharply in Q3 2008, from approximately 572 million messages in Q2 2008 to approximately 634 million messages per day, on average in Q3 2008, an increase of close to 10 percent.

To view the full index, please visit https://www.verisign.com/static/044324.pdf.