Did You Know World’s First SMS Is 'Merry Christmas'? Vodafone To Auction 30-Year-Old Message AS NFT

On December 3, 1992, 22-year-old British programmer Neil Papworth has sent the first ever Short Message Service (SMS) from a computer to colleague Richard Jarvis

New Delhi: Did you know the world’s first text message was written in 1992? Yes, and now the telecom company Vodafone is going to auction this SMS as a Non-Fungible Token (NFT). It is expected to fetch more than £150,000, according to Dailymail report. 

Written almost 30 years ago, the iconic SMS has been recreated as non-fungible token (NFT) by the telecom major giant and put up for auction in Paris.

From maker to the content of the text message

On December 3, 1992, 22-year-old British programmer Neil Papworth has sent the first ever Short Message Service (SMS) from a computer to colleague Richard Jarvis.

Working as a developer and test engineer for Vodafone, Papworth created a SMS where he typed out the 14 characters SMS that read 'Merry Christmas’ from his base in Newbury, Berkshire.

The message was successfully received by a company director Jarvis on his Orbitel 901 handset. One year later in 1993, Nokia introduced an SMS feature with a distinctive ‘beep’ to signal an incoming message.

At first, text messages had a 160-character limit. This message gave birth to modern messaging. In 2017, Papworth said: 'In 1992, I had no idea just how popular texting would become, and that this would give rise to emojis and messaging apps used by millions, according to the Dailymail.

In 1999, seven years after Neil’s first SMS message, texts could finally be exchanged on multiple networks, propelling them to greater popularity than ever before.  

When is the auction conducted?

Taking to its official handle on microblogging website Twitter, Vodafone said that this is going to be the company's first NFT.

The auction will be conducted in Paris on 21 December 2021 by Aguttes, the first independent auction house in France. The proceeds from the auction of this NFT will be donated to UNHCR to help the refugees.

Buyers taking NFTs will also be given a certificate signed by Vodafone Group CEO Nick Reed, which will guarantee the uniqueness and authenticity of the NFT.

Thos who purchase NFT will also get a detailed replica of the original communication protocol from Vodafone. This will include the first SMS sending and receiving information in the world.  Apart from this, customers are also offered basic communication protocol from Vodafone in TXT and PDF files (coded / uncoded versions).