SMS still alive and kicking on back of applications App-to-person SMS business has grown 20% every year since 2014 to 210 billion messages in 2018. NEW DELHI: If you thought that the humble SMS, or short messaging service, has died a silent death thanks to WhatsApp, Telegram and others of their ilk, think again. As of 2019, it’s a business worth more than $500 million with about 22 billion messages travelling on telecom networks every month. But it’s not the typical person-to-person messaging that has grown — that category has flatlined. What’s booming is app-to-person messages, thanks to the plethora of apps that users are downloading to their smartphones. These in turn are peppering subscribers with text messages — notifications, advertisements, promotions and transaction confirmations. The segment has grown 20% every year since 2014 to 210 billion messages in 2018, according to industry data, and is expected to reach 265 billion this year. Five years ago, the n