Text messages shrink as OTT services boom

BEIJING - Text messages and calls shrank sharply in China as mobile apps provided new ways of sending blessings during the Lunar New Year holiday, the Industry and Information Technology Ministry said Monday.

According to a ministry statement, mobile Internet data traffic per capita rose 25.3 percent to 46.6 megabytes from Jan 30 to Feb 6.

The statement said that traditional telecom business shrank as over-the-top (OTT) services flourished. On Jan 30, the New Year eve, text messaging decreased 8 percent year on year, and during the eights days call duration stood at only 75 percent of the usual average.

The number of messages sent through China's most popular OTT service WeChat, Internet firm Tencent's flagship mobile messaging application, doubled on Jan 30. In the peak minute, the number of messages sent surged to 10 million, according to data released by Tencent.

Chinese people used to send greetings on the eve via text message services provided by the country's three State-owned telecom giants, the cost of which roughly stood at 0.1 yuan (1.64 cents) per message.

The trend began to reverse after WeChat brought free message and voice services to mobile users who only need to pay for their data flow through the Internet.