The first text message (SMS) in history, transmitted on 3 December 1992 by telephone operator Vodafone, was sold at an auction in Paris in the form of a digital code for 107,000 euros (about $120,000), according to Aguttes. The curious piece, presented on a tablet, was acquired by a Canadian who works in the field of new technologies and whose identity was not specified.

The buyer thus possesses a digital replica and the only original communication protocol that transmitted that telephone text message (SMS). Transmitted by Vodafone on 3 December 1992, the SMS consists of 12 characters and simply read "Merry Christmas" (Merry Christmas). Operator's programmer Neil Papworth sent the message to a colleague, Richard Jarvis, who received it while he was at the company's Christmas party on his telephone Orbitel 901.

Although the first SMS was transmitted in 1992, the precursor was Finnish engineer Matti Makkonen who, in 1984, at an informal lunch, had the idea of creating a messaging system for mobile networks. In those years, different European countries were working on the creation of the Global Mobile Communications System (GSM), a standard for mobile technologies to work equally across the continent. The working group liked Makkonen's idea, so the German Friedhelm Hillebrand defined the initial protocol and established that the writings would be 160 characters. In their view, enough to send efficient communications and adapted both to the size of the screens and to the capacity of the networks of the moment.

At first, SMS was intended for operators to send service information to their customers. In other words, communication between users was not possible. This type of message was called mobile terminated-short message (MT-SM). It was the company Nokia that developed the system as it is now known, with the mobile originate-short message (MO-SM) that makes it easier for any user to send an SMS to another, according to Orange operator's blog.

It was not until 1999 that operators commercially launched SMS service as an alternative source of revenue, in addition to the main business of calls allowing SMS to be exchanged between users of different companies.

A sad decline

For technical reasons at first and to increase revenue later, operators limited the size of SMS to 150 characters, long before Twitter made its 140 characters famous for tweet. Users began to perceive the advantages of this new system, which avoided calls, much more expensive, although SMS costs 25 cents in Spain.

To save characters, he invented a new language full of abbreviations, acronyms and acronyms that the young took up, but which aroused the anger of the language teachers and the Royal Academy itself. In 2007, SMS reached its peak. 15 million SMS were sent every minute around the world, and it was by far the most profitable service for operators, as its cost was close to zero by occupying only bandwidth.

But the appearance of smartphones (smart phones) in 2007, with the first iPhone at the head, allowing Internet connection thanks to the new 3G networks, began to mark the decline of SMS. Messaging apps appeared as WhatsApp, whose main advantage over SMS was their gratuitousness. The proliferation of instant messaging applications eclipsed SMS as a method of interpersonal communication and was its ultimate tiptoe. So much so that they ceased to be charged and started to be included free of charge in all operator's tariff plans. There have been several attempts to resurrect SMS, but they have proved unsuccessful.

According to CNMC, WhatsApp is now the main channel of communication for Spaniards: 64% send messages several times a day through this app. On the other hand, only 2% recognize sending SMS. In fact, more than 60% of Spaniards never use this service.

However, companies and public administrations continue to prefer SMS to WhatsApp because of their higher level of safety and reliability. Banks have generalized their use to confirm online payments and the public authorities use them for all notifications to citizens, from the warning of a fine to the appointment for the covid-19 vaccine.