If texting were an Olympic event, we would have brought home the gold.

The average mobile phone user in the Philippines sends around 15 text messages a day, according to telecommunications companies.

The Philippine Long Distance Telephone group estimates that the 33 million subscribers of Smart and Talk N’ Text collectively send 500 million to 600 million text messages a day. This means the average subscriber of the PLDT group taps out 15 to 18 text messages on the cellular phone per day.

1 billion texts per day
The group’s combined incoming and outgoing traffic is calculated to be around 1 billion text messages per day.

On the other hand, the average subscriber of Sun Cellular sends some 10 to 15 text messages per day. With some 6.5 million subscribers as of end-June, the network has been handling up to 100 million outgoing text messages every day.

Globe Telecom Inc. did not provide an estimate for its outgoing traffic, but previously said that its network handled 500 to 700 million incoming and outgoing messages per day. Its subscriber base as of end-June was 22.7 million.

Numbers from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) were more conservative.

According to the telco regulator, the Philippines’ average cellular phone user sends about 10 text messages a day.

Unlimited text promos
NTC Common Carrier Division chief Edgardo Cabarrios said in an interview that “10 text messages a day was very conservative” considering the popularity of unlimited text promos. But even with this modest estimate, it was still one of the highest in the world, he said.

“In terms of total volume, other countries may have higher numbers because of population size. But per capita, the Philippines has one of the highest volume of text activity, if not the highest,” Cabarrios said.

He also said that before telcos offered unlimited text promos, cell phone users sent an average of seven text messages per day.