JaxtrSMS Sends Free SMS Texts Around the World

Sabeer Bhatia, who revolutionised email service 17 years ago with Hotmail.com, which he co-founded with Jack Smith, is back with a product he hopes will do the same to the SMS platform.

Bhatia, co-founder of Jaxtr Inc, on Tuesday announced the global launch of JaxtrSMS, a mobile application that allows users to send unlimited free text messages to any other phone anywhere in the world.

JaxtrSMS competes with the likes of What’s App, ZipDial and SMS, but is available for free (it can be downloaded from www.jaxtrsms.com or from the app store on the handset) on any mobile platform, including iPhone, Blackberry, Android and J2ME. The service is also available on low-end data-enabled handsets, and does not need prior installation on the device.

What stands JaxtrSMS from other free mobile messaging applications —- where messages can only be sent within a closed network of those having the same app installed —- is its ‘open’ texting platform. Moreover, JaxtrSMS retains the number of the user and no new number is required while signing up for the service, which is available in 200 countries with carrier agreements in six continents.

Some of its other unique features are voice telephony and a billing engine in the cloud.

Looking at the growing uptake of 3G and the fact that “the world is looking at mobile as the next growth opportunity,” JaxtrSMS may also offer video and picture SMSes, said Bhatia. It also plans to offer mobile e-commerce over SMS going forward.

Interestingly, the technology driving JaxtrSMS was invented in India, and about 50 people have worked on developing this platform. While he did not reveal the investment details, Bhatia said it is targeting 100 million subscribers by next year, each of whom is expected to generate $1 in revenue.

Other forms of revenue will be through contextual advertising within the app, as well as through paid premium services for a small portion of the user base. These services would include opt-in SMS alerts, horoscopes, and more.