More Texts than Voice Calls by US Mobile Users, Says Nielsen

The Nielsen Company's new figures show that the typical U.S. mobile subscriber now sends and
receives more SMS text messages than they do mobile telephone calls. 

As
of Q2 2008, a typical U.S. mobile subscriber sends or receives 357 text
messages per month, compared to placing or receiving 204 phone calls. 
Though the number of calls has remained relatively steady, the number
of text messages is up 450% from just two years prior.  Q2 2008 was the
second consecutive quarter in which the average number of text messages
sent was significantly higher than the average number of phone calls
placed.

The
insights come from Nielsen Mobile, a service of The Nielsen Company,
which directly measures billing activity through an opt-in panel of
more than 50,000 personally liable, postpaid U.S. mobile lines across
the top four carriers.  Through the billing data, Nielsen reports on
everything from how many text messages subscribers send to what games
and ringtones they download.

In
addition to showing the trend of texts compared to calls, Nielsen's
research shows that the typical U.S. teen mobile subscriber (ages
13-17) now sends or receives 1,742 text messages per month (compared to
making or receiving 231 mobile phone calls).