The most commonly used data application on mobile phones is
SMS text messaging. The first SMS text message was sent from a computer to a
mobile phone in 1992 in the UK, while the first person-to-person SMS from phone
to phone was sent in Finland in 1993.
Other non-SMS data services used on mobile phones include
mobile music, downloadable logos and pictures, gaming, gambling, adult
entertainment and advertising. The first downloadable mobile content was sold
to a mobile phone in Finland in 1998, when Radiolinja (now Elisa) introduced
the downloadable ringtone service. In 1999, Japanese mobile operator NTT DoCoMo
introduced its mobile Internet service, i-Mode, which today is the world's
largest mobile Internet service.
The first mobile news service, delivered via SMS, was
launched in Finland in 2000. Mobile news services are expanding with many
organizations providing "on-demand" news services by SMS. Some also
provide "instant" news pushed out by SMS.
Mobile payments were first trialled in Finland in 1998 when
two Coca-Cola vending machines in Espoo were enabled to work with SMS payments.
Eventually, the idea spread and in 1999 the Philippines launched the first
commercial mobile payments systems, on the mobile operators Globe and Smart.
Today, mobile payments ranging from mobile banking to mobile credit cards to
mobile commerce are very widely used in Asia and Africa, and in selected
European markets.
