SMS More Popular in Italy Than Ever

Text messaging has witnessed increased popularity over the last few years and research evidence has shown that about 96 per cent of young people in Italy own a mobile phone. Furthermore, text messaging trends show high usage levels amongst the young generation: according to research over 80 per cent of the under-25s are more likely to text someone than call. The Mobile Data Association supports that more than 2.7 billion SMS are sent per month in Italy, which represents an increase of 25.5 per cent per month over last year.

SMS is one of the most popular and frequently used value-added services offered by mobile operators. Even though SMS prices have seen a steady drop in recent years, mainly due to the fact that operators have introduced the so-called 'SMS bundles', still a significant proportion of operators' revenue is generated from messaging services, predominately SMS. Most operators aim at raising their profit levels through high SMS traffic. On the consumer side, subscribers also benefit from cheaper SMS tariffs due to the mass of text messages sent out per day, an offer applying extensively to young people, who engage in frequent text messaging.

Learn more: http://www.m-bill.net/coverage/sms/premium/europe/italy

Italy one of Europes most lively Mobile Markets

Italy has one of Europe’s most lively mobile markets, supported by a large population keen to try new services. Italy has the third highest penetration rate in the world with a 90 - 100% penetration rate in the 12 to 50 age range. With little room for growth in terms of subscriber numbers, competition between operators turns to pricing strategies which will cause ARPU to fall by 3% year on year from $34pcm in 2005 to $32pcm in 2007.

Rising ARPU from data services and the ability of operators to distinguish themselves via data services remains the best opportunity for operators to stem falling ARPU.The market is dominated by three operators, while a fourth, 3 Italia, has struggled to make a profit or significantly expand its customer base. All four providers operate 3G networks, while investments in network upgrades have provided rich opportunities for mobile data use among consumers. Wireless penetration levels in Italy will increase from our projected 156% in 2008 to our fore casted 163% in 2010.

Learn More: http://www.m-bill.net/coverage/sms/premium/europe/italy

New Age SMS for Italians

Along comes a new 21st century way of writing Italian. Popularized by young people via SMS, the new spelling uses maths symbols, homonyms, numbers, and abbreviations to speed up the transfer of messages.

We're in a frenetic age now and communication often takes place not with a telephone but with a mobile phone. Whether on the street, traveling on a train or bus, or in a remote town, it seems everyone is in a hurry. Not only that but there's also a need, when creating Italian text messages, to convey a concept within a limited space, meaning youngsters save money, as each message sent is limited to 160 characters.

Traditional hand written letters have already disappeared and are out of fashion and e-mail inboxes are overflowing with spam. Nowadays mobile phones have become the preferred method for expressing sentiments and emotions. Sometimes PSMS messages are even sent between two people standing just a few feet apart from one another.

Learn More: http://www.m-bill.net/coverage/sms/premium/europe/italy

Mobile Pricechecker for Italy

Italian shoppers are now able to use their mobile phones to get cheaper prices thanks to premium SMS. Mobile phone users are able to check out prices of certain food items by sending in the name of the item that they want checked to 474947. They then receive a reply listing the wholesale and average retail prices for the item in the northern, southern and central areas of the country. Shoppers are then able to seek out the best bargains.

SMS Consumatori indexes prices from more than 2.000 stores, including big high-street chains as well as independent market traders. This enables most people to be able to hunt out a bargain as more than half the country owns a mobile phone.

Learn more: http://www.m-bill.net/coverage/sms/premium/europe/italy