Online and mobile messaging traffic is set to grow significantly between 2015 and 2019, with traffic hitting 160 trillion messages or 438 billion messages a day by 2019. This is based on data published by Juniper Research. Traffic in 2015 is expected to hit 94.2 trillion messages sent and received by users in the calendar year. These figures incorporate SMS, MMS, IM (Instant Messaging), Social Media and Email.
in 2014, email led in messaging traffic with over 35 trillion messages sent all year. Interestingly, 28 trillion of these messages, which equates to 80% of the traffic were categorized as spam. The research dubbed Mobile & Online Messaging: SMS, RCS & IM Markets 2015-2019 also predicts a sharp growth in the uptake of Instant messaging thereby overtaking email.
Mobile messaging today encompasses both the more traditional forms of messaging and the popular OTT (Over the Top) messaging services from providers such as WhatsApp. Instant messaging services such as Whatsapp are predicted to generate 43 Trillion messages annually, occasioned by the negligible costs involved, which have led to the migration from traditional messaging forms such as SMS outlined in part of the research under a white paper called Sending Out An SMS. Social media will also influence the influx in online messaging. Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are continuing to experience sharp uplifts in usage, with Facebook alone now seeing more than 5.8bn posts, likes and comments per day.
Many of the Over the top messaging providers such as Facebook Messenger, Line and Snapchat continue to invest in diversification of their offerings such as the introduction of payments on their platforms, a fete likely to increase the uplift. With the slump in SMS messaging, mobile network operators are implementing rich communication services providing enhanced messaging solutions.
