When Did Texting Start? The Real History of SMS

You probably sent multiple texts today to your friends without thinking twice about it. These may be a hundred if you're the group chat type. But here's something worth pausing. Did you ever think when texting started, who started it and a specific phone where all of this began? And honestly, you should know the story; it's better than you'd expect.

So, when did texting start? December 3, 1992, is the date when texting started. The longer answer involves a German engineer. In this guide, I will give you a full-time glance of how texting gets started and evolves to the most modern form of messaging with technology integration.

Before the First Text, Someone Had to Invent the Idea

Back in 1984, the concept of short message service SMS started. The idea was found inside the Franco-German GSM cooperation, where a technical committee was working on mobile communication standards. Friedhelm Hillebrand and Bernard Ghillebaert are two names who played an important role in pushing this idea forward.

On a random day, Hillebrand was typewriting in Bonn, Germany. He was typing random sentences and questions, then counting every character. With this practice, he analyzed that a meaningful thing or a talk a person wants to say fits in 160 characters or fewer.

And that observation became the backbone of SMS, on which we are still relying in a modified way. That's where text messaging was invented.

December 3, 1992: The Day It Actually Happened

After eight years of the SMS concept, Neil Papworth tested whether this SMS system actually worked. He was a 22-year-old software engineer working for Sema Group Telecoms.

On December 3, 1992, he typed two words, "Merry Christmas," on the computer and sent them to Vodafone’s director Richard Jarvis. Jarvis received the message on his Orbitel 901 mobile phone. And this is how the first message was sent. But Jarvis couldn't even text back because the Orbitel 901 had no keyboard for text input.

The Early Years: A Technology Nobody Expected to Take Off

In the early 1990s, mobile communications were all about the phone call. SMS was not acknowledged as phone calls. Even major mobile phones had no texting feature. The phone’s hardware wasn't built for it.

In 1993, Nokia was the first company to adopt the SMS feature. They released a full GSM phone that supported SMS messages. The Nokia phones had a notification beep for incoming texts.

In the early years, messaging was a slow process; it took a lot of time to deliver a single message. Users had to press each number key multiple times to get a desired single word. Such as the number 2 gave you A, B, or C, depending on how many times you tapped it. The average American in 1995 sent roughly 0.4 texts per month.

1999: The Year Texting Changed Forever

Before 1999, people were able to send SMS within the same mobile network. For example, if you were on one carrier and your friend was on another, you couldn't text them.

Texting between the two different networks became possible in 1999. With this, the person-to-person communication became effortless regardless of which carrier either of you used. Texts were cheap, fast, and didn't require an awkward phone call.

T9 and the Predictive Text Revolution

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, texting became popular due to predictive text. It made texting easier and simpler. Tegic co-founder Cliff Kushler invented T9 (Text on 9 keys). It confirmed that you will get the letter C by tapping the number 2 key three times without any pause.

Predictive texting improved typing, and now it is fast enough to feel like a real conversation.

Instant Messaging, the Internet, and SMS Growing Up

By the early 2000s, texting had overtaken phone calls. In 2007, Apple launched its first iPhone, and Americans were sending more text messages per month.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, messaging apps, such as AIM and MSN Messenger, made texting easier and faster. They normalized the idea of text-based communication.

In 2010, the International Telecommunications Union reported that 200,000 text messages were being sent every second. Which means approximately 6.1 trillion messages were sent in 2010. The global volume of SMS increased in 2012, placing the total at or slightly below 7.8 to 8 trillion messages.

From SMS to WhatsApp: The Next Shift

After 2012, SMS volume started declining. Yes, it's declined because it evolved into something new. Messaging apps like WhatsApp, iMessage, Facebook Messenger, and WeChat offered the same instant messaging experience.

These apps included the feature of sending photos, videos, voice notes, and encryption. They operate on mobile data instead of the cellular SMS network, which makes them cheaper. So texting remained there; only the pipes carrying it changed.

Today, if we talk about texting, it's in its broad sense. It is short, typed messages sent between individuals as the dominant mode of human communication.

Texting in the eSIM Era: The Evolution Continues

From a brick phone in 1992 that couldn't even text back, to a SIM card and eSIM is a big shift. Today, the physical SIM card itself is being replaced. eSIM technology allows you to activate a mobile plan digitally.

For travellers, especially, this is a genuine shift. You can land in a new country and have a local data plan active within minutes. You can use the eSIM data plan to operate your messaging apps, iMessage, WhatsApp, and everything else.

Yaalo eSIM makes this part of the journey simple. Whether you're travelling across one country or several, you can stay connected and keep texting.

The Full Timeline at a Glance

1984: Friedhelm Hillebrand and Bernard Ghillebaert developed the concept of SMS with a 160-character limit.
1992: Neil Papworth sends the first text on December 3, 1992, to Richard Jarvis via the Orbitel 901.
1993: Nokia launches the first full GSM phone line supporting user SMS.
Late 1990s: T9 predictive text launches cell phone adoption.
2000s: SMS becomes a mainstream text messaging service.
2007: Texts officially surpass phone calls in monthly usage among Americans
2012: Global SMS volume peaks at ~7.8 trillion messages
2010: WhatsApp, iMessage, and similar apps take over casual messaging; SMS continues for business and notifications
Today, eSIM technology removes the last physical barrier to staying connected globally

Conclusion

Texting started with a message "Merry Christmas" sent on December 3, 1992. Friedhelm Hillebrand found the concept of counting characters on a typewriter in 1984. Neil Papworth sent the first SMS from a computer. After that, T9 made texting fast enough like a common human conversation.

Today, the physical SIM card is disappearing too. With eSIM technology, staying connected and texting from anywhere in the world is instant and effortless. Yaalo eSIM is part of that next chapter.

FAQs

When exactly did texting start?

On December 3, 1992, Neil Papworth sent the first SMS to Richard Jarvis saying Merry Christmas.

Why are texts limited to 160 characters?

According to the Friedhelm Hillebrand concept in the mid-1980s, the most meaningful messages fit within 160 characters. And later on, the limit became the SMS standard.