Short Message Service (SMS) is a communications protocol allowing the interchange of short text messages between mobile telephone devices. SMS text messaging is the most widely used data application on the planet, with 2.4 billion active users, or 74% of all mobile phone subscribers sending and receiving text messages on their phones. The SMS technology has facilitated the development and growth of text messaging. The connection between the phenomenon of text messaging and the underlying technology is so great that in parts of the world the term "SMS" is used as a synonym for a text message or the act of sending a text message, even when a different protocol is being used.
SMS as used on modern handsets was originally defined as part of the GSM series of standards in 1985[1] as a means of sending messages of up to 160 characters (including spaces), to and from GSM mobile handsets.[2] Since then, support for the service has expanded to include alternative mobile standards such as ANSI CDMA networks and Digital AMPS, as well as satellite and landline networks.[citation needed] Most SMS messages are mobile-to-mobile text messages, though the standard supports other types of broadcast messaging as well.