We all already know texting is big – really big – even more so with younger generations.  There were 173.2 billion texts sent just in June this year, up from 7.2 billion five years earlier, according to CTIA.

So, it came as no surprise when I recently read a Bloomberg story on how wireless operators see great opportunity in the over-50 age demographic and plan to target them with texting and data plans.  ComScore recently reported that 42 percent of Americans 50 or older sent at least one text in at least one month last quarter, compared to 85 percent of the 13-34 age group.

With voice revenue slowing, carriers are smart to look at the over-50 crowd for the next area of growth with data services – with the easiest and most widely used data service being text messaging.  And the group will remain important moving forward – the number of Americans 65 and over is estimated to be 46.8 million in 2015 and nearly 64 million by 2025.

Bloomberg reported that to reach the new demographic the carriers are coming up with ideas such as: texting lessons, over-sized buttons, and new marketing strategies to connect with the 50 and over crew.  We also shouldn’t underestimate the impact the group’s children (and grandchildren) will have on getting them texting.  With the younger generations preferring to communicate via text, the over-50 group will start turning to SMS to stay connected with family members.

Texting is about to get a whole lot bigger!

You can follow Matt on Twitter @WaterfallMobile or read more from him on Mobile Demystified.