n 2026 about 5.8 billion people, around 70% of the world's population, are unique mobile subscribers (GSMA), so SMS still reaches almost anyone with a phone and needs no app. WhatsApp has more than 3 billion monthly users and has charged businesses per delivered message since 1 July 2025 (Meta). RCS works on iPhone since iOS 18, and operator revenue from RCS for business is forecast to grow from $1.2 billion in 2025 to $3.1 billion in 2027 (Juniper Research). Global A2P SMS volumes fell for the first time in 2024, but total operator business-messaging revenue is still about $51.7 billion a year. On authentication, the FBI recorded $17.4 million in reported SIM-swap losses in the US in 2025, and passkey sign-ins succeed 93% of the time against 63% for other methods (FIDO Alliance). Every figure below links to its source.
Figures checked at their sources on 22 October 2026. Each one keeps the scope its source gives it (global or regional, connections or people, a forecast or a measurement). Different sources count differently, so compare figures only within the same source.
Key figures at a glance
| Metric | Figure | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Unique mobile subscribers (global) | 5.8 billion, about 70% of people | GSMA, The Mobile Economy 2026 (Feb 2026) |
| People who own a mobile phone (age 10+) | 82% | ITU, Facts and Figures 2025 (Oct 2025) |
| People online (global) | About 6 billion; 2.2 billion offline | ITU (Nov 2025) |
| Operator business-messaging revenue | $51.7 billion (2025) → $54.6 billion (2030) | Juniper Research (Sep 2025) |
| A2P SMS traffic | 1.9 trillion (2023) → below 1.5 trillion by 2029 | Juniper Research (Oct 2024) |
| WhatsApp monthly users | More than 3 billion | Meta, Q1 2025 earnings call |
| WhatsApp daily actives | More than 2 billion | Meta, Q4 2025 earnings call |
| RCS messages sent in the US | More than 1 billion a day | Google (May 2025) |
| Operator RCS for Business revenue | $1.2 billion (2025) → $3.1 billion (2027) | Juniper Research (Feb 2026) |
| Reported SIM-swap losses, US | $17.4 million (2025) | FBI IC3 2025 report (Apr 2026) |
| Passkeys in use | About 5 billion | FIDO Alliance (May 2026) |
| MENA mobile internet users | 308 million, 46% of the population (2024) | GSMA, Mobile Economy MENA 2025 |
Mobile reach: who you can message
GSMA's Mobile Economy 2026 counts 5.8 billion unique mobile subscribers in 2025, around 70% of the global population, and 8.8 billion connections including IoT. Mobile internet is narrower: 58% of people (4.7 billion) use it on their own device, while just under 40% stay unconnected even though 96% live under mobile broadband coverage. GSMA forecasts that 57% of connections will be 5G by 2030.
ITU's Facts and Figures 2025 puts phone ownership at 82% of people aged 10 and over, more than 95% in high-income economies and 53% in low-income ones. About 6 billion people are online and 2.2 billion are not. This gap is why SMS stays the default for one-time passwords and alerts: it reaches every phone, including those without data or an app.
SMS and A2P messaging
Juniper Research estimates total operator business-messaging revenue at $51.7 billion in 2025, rising to $54.6 billion in 2030, across SMS, RCS and OTT channels (A2P & business messaging research). Volumes are shifting: Juniper forecasts global A2P SMS traffic falling from 1.9 trillion messages in 2023 to below 1.5 trillion by 2029, and reports that A2P volumes declined for the first time in 2024 as some traffic moves to richer channels and to app-based verification.
Lower volume does not mean lower importance. SMS remains the fallback that every other channel relies on. A WhatsApp-first flow or an RCS campaign still needs SMS for users who are offline, on older phones or outside a channel's coverage. For the economics, see cost per delivered message.
WhatsApp Business
- **Users:** more than 3 billion monthly users (Meta, Q1 2025 earnings call) and more than 2 billion daily actives (Meta, Q4 2025 earnings call).
- **Paid messaging:** passed a $2 billion annual revenue run-rate in Q4 2025 (Meta).
- **Scale:** a peak of 30 million messages sent per second during the 2026 World Cup final (Meta, Q2 2026 earnings call).
- **Pricing model:** per delivered message since 1 July 2025, by category (marketing, utility, authentication) and recipient market (Meta pricing updates).
- **Service messages:** billable from 1 October 2026, with 1,000 free delivered service messages per business phone number per month; utility messages inside the customer-service window are no longer free. Meta changes prices only on the first day of a quarter.
What the 1 October 2026 change costs in practice is worked through in WhatsApp service-message pricing from October 2026.
RCS Business Messaging
- **Volume:** more than 1 billion RCS messages are sent every day in the US (Google, 28-day average, May 2025).
- **iPhone:** RCS arrived on iPhone with iOS 18 in September 2024 (GSMA).
- **Encryption:** GSMA's Universal Profile 3.0 (March 2025) adds end-to-end encryption based on the MLS protocol; encrypted RCS between iPhone (iOS 26.5) and Android began rolling out in beta, with supporting carriers, in May 2026 (GSMA).
- **Revenue:** operator revenue from RCS for Business is forecast at $1.2 billion in 2025 and $3.1 billion in 2027, with RCS penetration above 80% in the US and France (Juniper Research, Feb 2026).
For rollout status in the Gulf and how to keep SMS as the fallback, see RCS Business Messaging in MENA.
OTP, fraud and passkeys
The FBI's 2025 Internet Crime Report recorded 971 SIM-swap complaints with $17.4 million in losses reported by US victims in 2025, down from 982 complaints and $26.0 million in 2024, out of $20.9 billion in total reported internet-crime losses. Juniper Research estimates that enterprise losses to artificially inflated traffic (SMS pumping) peaked at $2.1 billion in 2023 and forecasts them to fall 55% between 2024 and 2029 as detection improves.
Passkeys are growing fast. The FIDO Alliance estimates about 5 billion passkeys in use (May 2026), and its Passkey Index reports that passkey sign-ins succeed 93% of the time against 63% for other methods, in 8.5 seconds against 31.2. In practice most services keep SMS OTP as the account-recovery and fallback factor; see from SMS OTP to passkeys, SIM swap defence and SMS pumping.
The Middle East and the GCC
GSMA's Mobile Economy MENA 2025 counts 308 million mobile internet users in the region in 2024, 46% of the population, rising to 378 million (52%) by 2030. Mobile internet penetration is 71% in the GCC against 43% in the region's low- and middle-income countries, and 5G's share of connections is forecast to grow from 7% in 2024 to 48% in 2030. GSMA expects 95% of GCC connections to be on 5G by 2030, and puts mobile's economic contribution in the region at $350 billion, 5.7% of GDP.
Regulation moves just as fast. Banks in the UAE are retiring SMS OTP for many transactions, Turkey blocks international SMS that carry links, and sender-ID registration is mandatory across the Gulf. The dated list is in our A2P messaging regulation timeline.
AI agents in customer messaging
- Meta reports more than 1 billion active threads a day between people and business accounts across its messaging apps (Q3 2025 earnings call).
- Meta's business AIs handled more than 10 million conversations a week by April 2026, up from 1 million at the start of the year (Q1 2026 earnings call), and more than 1 million businesses used its Business Agents each week by July 2026 (Q2 2026).
- Gartner predicts that agentic AI will autonomously resolve 80% of common customer-service issues by 2029 (Gartner, March 2025).
For how AI agents send SMS and WhatsApp safely, see MCP for messaging and agentic RCS.
BroadNet in numbers
| BroadNet figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2003, in Beirut, Lebanon; headquartered in Dubai |
| Messages handled | 300M+ a day |
| Direct operator connections | 1,000+ |
| Reach | 200+ countries, with direct routes in 86 |
| Enterprise customers | 60,000+ |
| Operator SMS firewall deployments | 60+ |
| Throughput | 30,000 SMS per second per node |
| Uptime SLA | 99.99% |
| Meta status | Official Meta Business Solution Provider |
These are BroadNet's own published figures, kept current on the BroadNet facts page.
How to use these numbers
- Quote the source and the year with the figure; most of these change every year.
- Do not combine figures from different publishers into one series: GSMA counts connections and people, others count subscriptions or messages.
- Treat forecasts (2029, 2030) as forecasts, and measurements (a year's losses, a day's volume) as measurements.
- For pricing decisions, use rates quoted for your traffic, not industry averages; see BroadNet pricing.
Frequently asked questions
How many people can be reached by SMS in 2026?
About 5.8 billion unique mobile subscribers, around 70% of the world's population, according to GSMA's Mobile Economy 2026. SMS works on every mobile phone without an app or a data connection, which is why it stays the default channel for one-time passwords and critical alerts.
Is A2P SMS declining?
Volumes are. Juniper Research reports that A2P SMS traffic fell for the first time in 2024 and forecasts it to drop from 1.9 trillion messages in 2023 to below 1.5 trillion by 2029. Total operator business-messaging revenue across SMS, RCS and OTT channels is still estimated at $51.7 billion in 2025, growing to $54.6 billion by 2030.
How many people use WhatsApp?
More than 3 billion people a month, according to Meta's Q1 2025 earnings call, and more than 2 billion a day as of Q4 2025. Businesses pay per delivered message since 1 July 2025, and service messages are billable from 1 October 2026 after 1,000 free ones per phone number each month.
How big is RCS Business Messaging?
Google reports more than 1 billion RCS messages a day in the US alone (May 2025), and RCS has worked on iPhone since iOS 18. Juniper Research forecasts operator revenue from RCS for Business to grow from $1.2 billion in 2025 to $3.1 billion in 2027.
How much does SIM-swap fraud cost?
US victims reported $17.4 million in SIM-swap losses across 971 complaints to the FBI in 2025, according to the IC3 2025 Internet Crime Report. Reported figures understate the real total, and SIM swap is one reason banks add device and network checks to SMS OTP.
Are passkeys replacing SMS OTP?
They are growing quickly: the FIDO Alliance estimates about 5 billion passkeys in use and measures a 93% sign-in success rate against 63% for other methods. Most services still keep SMS OTP for account recovery and as a fallback for users and devices without passkeys.
How many mobile internet users are there in the Middle East and North Africa?
308 million in 2024, 46% of the population, rising to 378 million (52%) by 2030, according to GSMA's Mobile Economy MENA 2025. Penetration reaches 71% in the GCC.
How many messages does BroadNet handle?
BroadNet handles more than 300 million messages a day over 1,000+ direct operator connections, reaching 200+ countries. It was founded in Beirut in 2003, is headquartered in Dubai and serves 60,000+ enterprises.