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Among its many titles, Charlotte can now claim to be one of the “textiest” cities in the Southeast, based on a study by a wireless company.
Verizon Wireless customers in the city sent and received more than 103 million text messages in April, a nearly 600 percent increase over messages in the same month two years ago, according to the company's analysis.
That growth ranked third among large cities in Southern states served by Verizon.
The study came about through simple curiosity, said spokeswoman Carly Culbertson.
“We were seeing such phenomenal growth and popularity” in texting, Culbertson said, “and we just really felt that it would be interesting to look at and see where we saw the high points.”
Nicole Matos, 25, of Charlotte said she uses texting to get quick responses from friends while she is at work. By lunchtime on a recent Tuesday she had already sent 10 messages. On weekends she finds herself averaging 25 texts a day.
Other wireless providers also have seen texting take off. Scott Tollett of Alltel, said his company has seen customers of all ages catch on to texting. One reason is that texting allows people to avoid using minutes from calling plans, he said.
