VeriSign, a mobile aggregator and provider of Internet infrastructure services, announced a record-breaking quarter for mobile messaging based on its index of statistics.

During the second quarter of this year, VeriSign delivered a total of 94.8 billion application-to-person and person-to-person messages across its mobile messaging platforms. This new statistic is an 82 percent growth from last year.

"With mobile messaging, marketers can engage customers in ways they never have before," said Charles Landry, vice president and general manager of products and innovation at VeriSign, Mountain View, CA. "The mobile phone has become the most pervasive, personal communications tool available.

"We hardly ever leave home without it," he said. "SMS is a lowest common denominator technology that is easy to use, appeals to all consumer demographics, and access to it is now 100 percent available on mobile devices in the U.S."

VeriSign helps companies and consumers worldwide engage in communications and commerce.

VeriSign?s messaging and mobile media division delivers messages for carriers and content providers worldwide. The combined networks connect more than 700 carriers in more than 200 countries and reaches 3 billion wireless subscribers.

The new messaging stat comes with $3.3 billion in revenue generated for VeriSign?s service provider clients, double the revenue from last year.

In the first half of this year, VeriSign delivered a total of 178.8 billion messages worldwide, translating to 26 messages for every person in the world.

The network also set a signle-day record on June 25 by enabling 1.2 billion messages over a 24-hour period.

By creating a persistent presence on the ubiquitous third screen that is the mobile device, marketers can push one-way or mobile terminated alerts to users, requiring no response to complete the transaction," Mr. Landry said. "Or they can use an SMS message to push a WAP link that encourages customer interactivity.

"Two-way messaging, triggered by mobile-originated messages, enables users to send an SMS text to a short code, with the goal of pulling the user to the business with more response-driven communications, he said. "Marketers can deliver time-sensitive information around the clock as well as collaborate with third parties on ad-sponsored mobile messaging initiatives."

A one-hour record was set between 3 and 4 p.m. PDT with 102 million messages being sent. This record coincides with the death announcements of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett.

The records set in the second quarter demonstrate the growing presence of mobile messaging in our culture, according to VeriSign.

People are continuing to use the power of text messaging to communicate with friends and stay connected about significant events.

Additionally in the second quarter of this year, the daily average number of messages on VeriSign?s combined mobile messaging platform broke the 1 billion mark. This is a 12 percent increase from the first quarter and an 83 percent rise since the second quarter of last year.

VeriSign said that premium content is also on the rise as efforts are made to improve consumer mobile experience.

The company saw a 36.6 percent increase in total messages delivered in the second quarter of this year when compared to the second quarter of last year.

"The increased adoption of the mobile messaging environment sets the stage for marketers to move beyond traditional marketing strategies and leverage the benefits the mobile channel brings to their marketing mix," Mr. Landry said.

"Marketers need to adopt industry-sanctioned best practices to ensure the mobile campaign they bring to the market ensures an optimal consumer experience," he said. "And as consumers receive promotions that are fair and honest, they develop a positive view of their mobile experience, which in turn translates into repeat business."