The Short Message Service (SMS), often called text messaging, is a means of sending short messages to and from mobile phones. SMS was originally defined as part of the GSM series of standards in 1985[1] as a means of sending messages of up to 160 characters, to and from GSM mobile handsets.[2] Since then, support for the service has expanded to include alternative mobile standards such as ANSI CDMA networks and Digital AMPS, satellite and landline networks.[3] Most SMS messages are mobile-to-mobile text messages, though the standard supports other types of broadcast messaging as well.

The term SMS is frequently used in a non-technical sense to refer to the text messages themselves, particularly in non-English-speaking European countries where the GSM system is well-established.


The Short Message Service - Point to Point (SMS-PP) is defined in GSM recommendation 03.40.[2] GSM 03.41 defines the Short Message Service - Cell Broadcast (SMS-CB) which allows messages (advertising, public information, etc.) to be broadcast to all mobile users in a specified geographical area.[18] Messages are sent to a Short Message Service Centre (SMSC) which provides a store-and-forward mechanism.