March 2006 goes on record as the month with the highest ever number of text messages sent throughout the UK. Figures for March have topped the previous highest monthly total of 3.11 billion in December 2005, to deliver an extraordinary 3.19 billion messages according to figures from the Mobile Data Association (MDA).

Person-to-person texts sent across the UK GSM network operators last month show an increase of 24% on the total sent during the same period in 2005, with an average of 103 million messages being sent per day, the highest daily figure yet recorded.

The new record may be attributable to high volumes of texts being sent on Mother's Day (March 26th), or simply because of the increasing instances where mobile phone users are finding text useful. The BBC last month published the results of a survey that showed the decline of handwriting and the rise of text messaging and e-mail. The survey of 'media consumption in the digital age' suggests that 29% of written communication is via text message and just 13% by pen and paper.