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Americans now send and receive more SMS text messages than they do mobile telephone calls, according to the latest research from Nielsen Mobile.

In the second quarter of 2008, the average mobile subscriber sent or received 357 text messages per month, compared to placing or receiving 204 phone calls.

The number of calls has remained relatively steady, but the number of text messages has increased 450 percent over the last two years. The second quarter of 2008 was the second consecutive quarter in which the average number of text messages sent was significantly higher than the average number of phone calls places.

The text message trend has steadily increased since the first quarter of 2006 when mobile users averaged 198 calls per month compared to 65 texts. The fourth quarter of 2007 was the first time the average number of texts (218) surpassed the average number of phone calls (213).

Nielsen Mobile pulls its data directly from an opt -in panel of more than 50,000 U.S. mobile lines across the top four carriers by looking at billing activity. The billing data provides how many text messages are sent along with what games and ringtones were downloaded.

Teens ages 13-17 are the heaviest text message users averaging 1,742 texts per month and 231 calls.