The popularity of text messaging has leapt three-fold in the past three years, with almost 200,000 text messages sent every second, the UN telecommunications agency said yesterday.

A total of 1.8 trillion SMSs were sent in 2007, but in 2010, the number sent has jumped to 6.1 trillion, said the International Telecommunication Union.This translates to revenues of $14,000 (€10,050) every second and $812,000 every minute, said the agency.

Users in the Philippines and the US were among the most prolific, accounting for 35 per cent of all text messages sent in 2009.

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