SMS revenues set to hit USB$50 billion by 2010

You know, 2010 used to be a long way away when it was 1999 or 2001.  It is, of course, less than four years away. 

Portio Research, an independent UK research company, has produced a report which reckons that the worldwide market for sms text messaging will garner USD$50 billion in revenues by 2010.  I can well believe this, particularly if us stupid Brits are still sat paying 12 pence a text.  Hopefully the market will have innovated a little more to unlimited plans or the like by 2010.  What’s more — and this one really caught my attention — the report reckons:

"MMS is not a failure, in fact far from it. This report forecasts that MMS will also generate revenues of $50bn by 2010."

I can well believe that if, as Portio suggest:

"the industry must concentrate on increasing the use of Premium MMS as a marketing tool and a distribution channel while promoting growth of cheap pier to pier picture messaging. When MMS becomes cheap, simple and compelling, traffic will grow and revenue will follow."

Even the researchers reckon the mobile industry has to do something about encouraging MMS usage. 

The report is titled: Mobile Messaging Futures 2005 – 2010 and can be yours for GBP£1,495.