Filipinos sent an average of 250 million text messages a day in 2005, 50 million more than the messages they sent in the previous year, local media reported on Thursday.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) attributed the surge in messages sent through a cellular phone's short messaging system (SMS) to the promotional gimmicks offered by mobile-phone service providers.

Four main mobile-phone service providers in the country had introduced unlimited text and lower tariff to outdo each other and to gain more subscribers.

"We expect this trend to continue, as the carriers continue to compete by providing low and affordable service offerings," the NTC chief Ronald O. Solis was quoted by The Manila Times as saying.

The volume of text messages rose although there has been no considerable increase in cellphone subscribers last year, Solis said.

At the end of 2005, there were 34.78 million cellphone subscribers in the Philippines, up from 32.94 million a year earlier.

Source: Xinhua