Who is Known as the Father of SMS? Know the Name

Matti Makkonen, a Finnish engineer, is often called the "Father of SMS" because of his key role in the development of text messaging. Although he did not invent SMS alone, his ideas and contributions helped make it a reality. Know more about the "Father of SMS" in this article.

Akansha Arora Last updated on February 11th, 2025 04:37 pm

SMS (Short Message Service) is a famous way of sending and receiving messages through mobile phones. It allows people to communicate quickly and easily with short messages. But have you wondered you have created this simple yet useful technology? Let’s explore the person behind SMS and who earned the title of “Father of SMS.”

What is SMS?

SMS stands for Short Message Service which allows users to send and receive message through mobile phones in a short period of time. SMS is a key part of mobile communication and is supported by all mobile phones. Each SMS can have up to 160 characters, but some phones join longer messages.

Father of SMS

Matti Makkonen, a Finnish engineer, is often called the “Father of SMS” because of his key role in the development of text messaging. Although he did not invent SMS alone, his ideas and contributions helped make it a reality. Makkonen worked in the field of mobile communication for many years and played a big role in the early development of GSM technology.

Who was Matti Makkonen?

Matti Makkonen was a Finnish engineer who has earned the title of the “Father of SMS” for his key role in developing text messaging. He was born on 16 April 1952 in Suomussalmi, Finland. He studied electrical engineering at Oulu University and graduated in 1976. After completing his education, he started working in the telecommunications industry. He held top position at Telecom Finland and Nokia Networks. In 2008, he won The Economist Innovation Award for his work. He retired in 2013 due to illness and passed away in 2015.

Role of Matti Makkonen in SMS Development

Makkonen first introduced the idea of sending short text messages over mobile networks in 1984. However, he did not personally invent SMS or created its code. Instead, he played a major role in its early development and promotion. SMS technology was officially launched in the early 1990s and became widely used across the world.

Facts Related to SMS Development

The 160 character format was determined in 1985 by Friedham Hillebrand.
Neil Papworth was the first one to sent the SMS message in 1992.
Nokia introduced the first phone, Nokia 2010 in 1994, that enabled easy writing of SMS messages.