Britons are now sending over one billion text messages every week, new figures show.
According to the Mobile Data Association (MDA), a whopping 4.825bn text messages were sent during September, an average of more than 1.2bn messages per week.
This is equivalent to 173,000,000 messages per day, 239,000 every minute and 4,000 a second.
September's figure is 25 per cent higher than a year earlier and has caused the MDA to revise its annual predicted total figure from 48bn to 52bn messages in 2007.
The weekly average in September is the same as the number sent during the whole of 1999.
Mike Short, head of the MDA, said: "The continued growth of text volumes remains a source of fascination for us all at the MDA.
"We have been central in helping to promote the technology from our initial campaigns back in 1998.
"Today text messaging remains important but as part of a much larger and more complex mobile communications industry.
"From mobile TV, mobile advertising and marketing to internet browsing and music and content creation, the mobile device continues to extend its reach into increasing parts of all our lives."
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