SMS
It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile phones exchange short text messages, typically transmitted over cellular networks.
Developed as part of the GSM standards, and based on the SS7 signalling protocol, SMS rolled out on digital cellular networks starting in 1993[1] and was originally intended for customers to receive alerts from their carrier/operator.
[2] The service allows users to send and receive text messages of up to 160 characters,[a] originally to and from GSM phones and later also CDMA and Digital AMPS;[3] it has since been defined and supported on newer networks,[4] including present-day 5G ones.
Using SMS gateways, messages can be transmitted over the Internet through an SMSC, allowing communication to computers, fixed landlines, and satellite.
[9] The SMS standard has been hugely popular worldwide as a method of text communication: by the end of 2010, it was the most widely used data application with an estimated 3.5 billion active users, or about 80% of all mobile phone subscribers.
[13] The first SMS message was sent on 3 December 1992, when Neil Papworth, a test engineer for Sema Group, sent "Merry Christmas" to the Orbitel 901 phone of colleague Richard Jarvis.
Based on his personal observations and on analysis of the typical lengths of postcard and Telex messages, Hillebrand argued that 160 characters was sufficient for most brief communications.
[23] The first proposal which initiated the development of SMS was made by a contribution of Germany and France in the GSM group meeting in February 1985 in Oslo.
[24] This proposal was further elaborated in GSM subgroup WP1 Services (Chairman Martine Alvernhe, France Telecom) based on a contribution from Germany.
[25] The input documents on SMS had been prepared by Friedhelm Hillebrand of Deutsche Telekom, with contributions from Bernard Ghillebaert of France Télécom.
DGMH had five to eight participants, and Finn Trosby mentions as major contributors Kevin Holley, Eija Altonen, Didier Luizard and Alan Cox.
Because local calls on land lines are usually free, wireless operators have to offer big “bundles” of minutes—up to 5,000 minutes per month—as part of their monthly pricing plans to persuade subscribers to use mobile phones instead.
[53] Usage of SMS for mobile data services became increasingly prominent in the early 2000s due to its ubiquity, reliability, and cold reception of the newer WAP standard.
In the early and mid 2000s, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) was developed as an improved version of SMS that supports sending of pictures and video.
[55] SMS has been increasingly challenged by Internet Protocol-based messaging services with additional features for modern mobile devices, such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, or WeChat.
[56] These services run independently from mobile network operators and typically don't provide cross-platform messaging capabilities like SMS or email does.
[60] Mobile-terminated short messages can be used to deliver digital content such as news alerts, financial information, logos, and ringtones.
[citation needed] Today, they are also used to pay smaller payments online—for example, for file-sharing services, in mobile application stores, or VIP section entrance.
As of February 2015 more than 1.5 million people have registered using that system, providing Libyan voters with unprecedented access to the democratic process.
However, not all text messaging systems use SMS, and some notable alternative implementations of the concept include J-Phone's SkyMail and NTT Docomo's Short Mail, both in Japan.
Email messaging from phones, as popularized by NTT Docomo's i-mode and the RIM BlackBerry, also typically uses standard mail protocols such as SMTP over TCP/IP.
[citation needed] Transmission of short messages between the SMSC and the handset is done whenever using the Mobile Application Part (MAP) of the SS7 protocol.
[citation needed] Message Service Centers communicate with the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) or PSTN via Interworking and Gateway MSCs.
Subscriber-terminated messages are transported from the service center to the destination handset, and may originate from mobile users, from fixed network subscribers, or from other sources such as VASPs.
[95] MAP Phase 2 expanded support for SMS by introducing a separate operation code for Mobile Terminated Short Message transport.
[citation needed] Many mobile and satellite transceiver units support the sending and receiving of SMS using an extended version of the Hayes command set.
In this case, the VASP providing the service obtains a short code from the telephone network operator, and subscribers send texts to that number.
[citation needed] As one pervasive example, this technique is used to extend the functionality of many Instant Messenger (IM) applications such that they are able to communicate over two-way dialogues with the much larger SMS user-base.
[113] The GSM industry has identified a number of potential fraud attacks on mobile operators that can be delivered via abuse of SMS messaging services.
This can be implemented by adding an intelligent routing function to the network that can query originating subscriber details from the home location register (HLR) before the message is submitted for delivery.
