Short for Short Message Service, a communications protocol allowing the interchange of short text messages between mobile telephone devices. SMS text messaging is the most widely used data application on the planet.
SMS as used on modern handsets was originally defined as part of the GSM series of standards. SMS was originally designed as part of GSM, but is now available on a wide range of networks, including 3G networks. However, not all text messaging systems use SMS, and some notable alternate implementations of the concept include J-Phone's SkyMail and NTT Docomo's Short Mail, both in Japan. E-mail messaging from phones, as popularized by NTT Docomo's i-mode and the RIM BlackBerry.
The maximum single text message size is either 160 7-bit characters, 140 8-bit characters, or 70 16-bit characters. Characters in languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Japanese or Slavic languages (e.g., Russian) must be encoded using the 16-bit UCS-2 character encoding.
All commercial Satellite phone networks except ACeS and OptusSat fully support SMS. While early Iridium handsets only support incoming SMS later models can also send them. The price per message varies from the different networks and is usually between 25 and 50 cents per message. Unlike some mobile phone networks there is no extra charge for sending international SMS or to send one to a different satellite phone network. SMS can sometimes be sent from areas where the signal is too poor to make a voice call. Satellite phone networks usually have a web-based or email-based SMS portals where one can send free SMS to phones on that particular network.
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