Starting next month, Pinger will introduce its free SMS service for iOS and Android in Germany.

FORBES: Pinger's Polite Plans For World Domination

Text messages are accompanied by ads and Pinger now serves up to two billion ads a month.

FORBES: Pinger's Polite Plans For World Domination

The mobile messaging landscape is teeming with apps both large and small, from Kakao to Pinger to WhatsApp.

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By simply restricting European users from sending more texts than they receive, Pinger is able to eliminate its messaging costs entirely.

FORBES: Pinger's Polite Plans For World Domination

Pinger says it has no definitive plans for an exit strategy.

FORBES: Pinger's Polite Plans For World Domination

If his service succeeds it could disrupt the so-called OTT messaging services like Pinger and WhatsApp that are, in themselves, already disrupting the traditional carrier model.

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When that stalled, they left Virgin to found Pinger in 2005, secured funding from Kleiner Perkins and DAG Ventures, only to see their original voice messaging concept stumble.

FORBES: Pinger's Polite Plans For World Domination

This is something they are already seeing with regard to SMS revenues with the advent of mobile messaging services like WhatsApp, Pinger, and GroupMe, which use the Internet to send free text messages.

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But with new mobile messaging services like GroupMe, WhatsApp and Pinger providing that same functionality, RIM was under pressure to offer other consumer-friendly features too, and video calling certainly gives it an edge on rival services.

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