The burgeoning population of mobile phone users is increasingly using the short messaging service to greet their friends and relatives on occasions such as the start of New Year.
Private cellular operators AirTel and Hutch registered a massive surge in SMS traffic in Delhi on December 31, 2003 and January 1, 2004.
SMS traffic (incoming and outgoing messages) on Hutch network stood at 12.6 million messages on December 31 and January 1, against an average 2.5 million messages per day.
"The SMS traffic on Hutch network was three to four times the normal level during New Year," a Hutch spokesperson said.
In case of AirTel, which boasts of 13 lakh (1.3 million) subscribers in Delhi, the outgoing SMS during the period in question was pegged at 75 lakh (7.5 million) compared to 800,000-10 lakh outgoing SMS on a normal day, according to an Airtel spokesperson.
The increase in call traffic has yet to be ascertained.
© 2026