Premium SMS downloads top $215M in Q1

U.S. mobile users rang up $215 million in off-deck premium SMS downloads in the first quarter, according to new figures from Telephia.
The San Francisco-based market research firm found that premium SMS activity accounted for more than $273 million in revenues, or about 32% of total mobile content revenues, during the period. Voting and sweepstakes entries generated more than $35 million, the firm said, while chat and community-related activity generated nearly $6 million.
“Premium text messaging continues to be an additional way to reach consumers directly off the carrier decks,” said Kanishka Agarwal, VP of mobile media for Telephia. “Moreover, marketers are experimenting beyond the standard rate SMS voting pioneered by ‘American Idol’ and tapping into premium SMS with voting/sweepstakes campaigns.”