Premium SMS: interaction made easy

The mobile phone continues to grow in popularity as the most accessible communications device ever, with unit sales in the U.S. in 2003 increasing by 20 percent to more than 70 million, according to analyst firm IDG. But future growth in mobile phone use and adoption will depend on new text messaging services that enable people to interact with broadcast media and receive essential up-to-the-minute information.

The Internet changed people's perception of information and entertainment, which used to be known as things "out there" that were spoon-fed to the general public. The Internet allows people to control the delivery of, and even play a role in, the dissemination of information. Internet users began responding to polls, voting for their favorite new song, sending messages to guests on MTV, and requesting the weather forecast, news and traffic updates on demand, in numbers that couldn't be accommodated through the telephone networks.

Now, mobile phone users can have that same level of participation no matter where they are, using devices that are always within arms reach.

The first short message services (SMS) for mobile phones enabled a person to send text messages of up to 160 characters to another user. While wildly popular in Europe and Asia, these services were slow to develop in the U.S. because of incompatible telecommunications networks, a problem that was only resolved within the last 18 months.

Within the caregory of SMS, there's user-level SMS (friend-to-friend) and premium-level SMS, which is what we'll be discussing in this article.

Premium SMS services distribute useful information requested by mobile phone users through the same network used by standard SMS carriers. Now, instead of using SMS only to stay in touch with friends, mobile phone customers can stay connected to what they view as essential information -- be it stock prices, flight delays, World Cup scores, or the latest soap opera plot twist. Premium SMS messages -- which look just like standard SMS messages -- come in three flavors: "blast" messages that are automatically sent by providers as alerts, "be heard" messages enabling the masses to communicate via polls and interactive chats, and "at your request" text that is sent in response to brief user messages.

Media companies believe that they can reach a wider audience through premium SMS services because more people have mobile phones than Internet access, because people crave news updates wherever they are, and because TV and radio audiences are more likely to pick up the handy mobile phone than go to a computer to participate. Premium SMS enables providers to enhance their revenues by charging customers fees for these new premium information services