Here’s a quick lowdown of SMS usage in the US, accurate up to first half of 2008. Source: CNET News

• 75 billion SMS text messages were sent in June 2008, averaging about 2.5 billion messages a day, according to CTIA survey
• This represents an increase of 160 percent over the 28.8 billion messages reported in June 2007
• SMS usage spiked in spite of the fact that text messages skyrocket 100 percent over the past two years to 20 cents a pop. Sprint Nextel was the first to introduce the new 20 cent per text message rate last year. And other major carriers, such as AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile USA, soon followed.
• The new wave of price hikes came just one year after all the major carriers raised individual text messaging rates from 10 cents a message to 15 cents per message.
• Data services, which primarily consist of text messaging service, generated $14.8 billion in revenue for the first half of 2008, or accounted for about 20 percent of total mobile carrier revenues. This represents a 40 percent increase over the first half of 2007, when data revenues totaled $10.5 billion.

Despite price increases, SMS usage hits record high which prompted Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) to send letters to the Big Four (Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint-Nextel and T-Mobile USA) and asked for justification for the SMS price hike. Will there be a price cap for SMS as in the European Union? Well, that remains to be seen as the operators will duke it out against the regulators as long as possible.

As Mr. Vince McMahon of the WWE would say, "It’s all about the MONEY"!