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Hotxt

As with Skype and voice-over internet services, Hotxt is set to greatly reduce costs of text messages by using the internet. The company will do this by having messages sent as data packages across the internet, rather than being routed through operators’ text-messaging infrastructure. Users thus only pay a tiny transport charge, at 1p a text, which is far less than the current average of 10p a text.

Users download the Hotxt software, choose a username and exchange texts with other Hotxt users for £1 per week. According to Doug Richard, the company’s co-founder, if a person sends 7 texts a day, Hotxt can reduce the cost by 75%, an annual saving of £210.

Unlike Skype, Hotxt is not free, so this may be a turnoff for many people, though as more people join the cheaper it will become.