UK MMS traffic up 23 per cent

The MDA says mobile users in Britain sent an average of 1.5 million MMSs a day last year.

On Christmas Day 4.4 million MMS messages were sent, equivalent to 3,000 messages every minute and up 38 per cent year-on-year.  On New Year's Eve 2.7 million MMSs were sent, up 36 per cent from a year earlier.

However, the figure is still dwarfed by SMS - a staggering 78.9 billion text messages were sent in the UK last year, up 38 per cent from 2007.

Rob Bamforth, Principal Analyst at Quocirca, said: “Messaging on the move continues to grow and as it does the reasons or purposes widen. While SMS messages allow for quick simple voice call replacement, MMS has different drivers.

"These often revolve around more specific needs or events. A spike in seasonal use demonstrates one such example but there are others.  Celebrations, holidays, and other events are particular applications that will drive more sophisticated use that fits well with MMS and extends messaging beyond simple text to other media.”