MTN's network recorded 867 SMSes per second on Christmas Day, translating to a total of 65 259 945 messages sent, says the company.
Bernice Samuels, GM of MTN Brand and Corporate Affairs, says the number of text messages sent in the holiday season increased 18% from the month before. "The growth from last year on MMS was 35%, showing the increasing entrenchment of MMS in customers' lives."
This was the first year MTN made complete use of its in-house-developed SMS system to handle the peak traffic, says Samuels. "Our SMSC coped very well during this period and the contingency plans we had in place did not have to be implemented."
The company also recorded 15% higher voice traffic over the season, with 2.15 billion calls made, up from last year's 1.8 billion.
Messages in motion
Vodacom says it too saw a record number of SMS transactions over the Christmas period. However, chief communications officer Dot Field declined to provide transaction figures, saying the company would release the information at its interim results.
She says the most significant increase the company experienced over the holiday season was the number of MMSes sent. "We experienced a considerable increase in MMS messages, when compared to the previous year, proving that this has become an effective and instant means to communicate with loved ones."
This year, Vodacom customers were also able to send MMS messages to friends and relatives living and working internationally via Vodacom's new international MMS service, explains Field. "This service significantly contributed to the total number of MMS messages sent over the festive season."
Cell C could not be reached by the time of publication.
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