# A short history of the SMS, from 1992 to today

> From the first 'Merry Christmas' in 1992 to today's 160 characters: why the SMS remains useful, and how to send one for free online.

- Source: https://www.envoyer-sms-gratuit.com/en/blog/2026-07-15/history-of-sms
- Published: 2026-07-15 (15 July 2026)
- Author: L'équipe Envoyer SMS Gratuit
- Language: en
- Categories: Culture
- Tags: History, SMS, Free SMS

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The SMS is more than thirty years old and has barely changed. It's precisely this restraint that makes it, even today, a reliable and universal channel — so much so that a browser is all it takes to send one for free, without installing a single app.

## 1992: three words from a computer

The very first SMS, "Merry Christmas", was sent in December 1992 from a computer to a [phone](https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=mobile+phone&tag=ds0608-21) on the Vodafone network in the United Kingdom. From the very start, the message therefore goes out from the machine side: it's software, not a handset, that composes it. Thirty years later, sending an SMS from a computer remains just as natural.

## A constraint turned signature

Short on room in the network signalling, the engineers limited the message to 160 characters via the [GSM-7 alphabet](/glossaire/gsm-7). This constraint forged a style: short, direct, no frills. A format so simple that it works identically on any phone, from the oldest to the newest.

## Universal where apps fragment

Where [RCS](/glossaire/rcs) and messaging apps seek to enrich the conversation, the SMS remains a lowest common denominator: it arrives on every French mobile, without an account or app to download. Our comparison [SMS vs RCS](/comparatifs/sms-vs-rcs) shows what you gain — and what you lose — by moving from one to the other.

## Still alive, and still free to try

Billions of SMS still circulate every day. Curious about the volume passing through our gateway? The [real-time counter](/outils/compteur-caracteres-sms) gives an idea of the scale. An old format, but an effectiveness that hasn't aged a day: with **Envoyer SMS Gratuit**, you can send a message to a French mobile in a few seconds, without sign-up, without advertising, and without limits.