Hmm, apparently the UK were 4 years ahead of the US in terms of SMS adoption (source: http://www.intomobile.com/2007/07/23/americans-are-4-years-behind-the-uk-i

Hmm, apparently the UK were 4 years ahead of the US in terms of SMS adoption (source: http://www.intomobile.com/2007/07/23/americans-are-4-years-behind-the-uk-in-terms-of-sms-adoption/ http://www.intomobile.com/2007/07/23/americans-are-4-years-b...) so maybe you're right. Certainly felt to me like SMS was well established in the UK in the 2000s.