30 years ago, Jonas Rexeke worked at what was then called Europolitan and which had its head office in Karlskrona. From here, the very first text message was sent in Sweden in April 1993 – and the company was also the second in the world to launch the short text messages.
"It wasn't really a big happening, because you didn't know at the time that it could be something big. It could just as easily have been a project you threw in the trash, says Jonas Rexeke, who also works with text messages at the mobile operator Spirius.
Half of the country's text messages came from Karlskrona
Initially, it only worked to send text messages on the company's own mobile network, and it was only possible to use the Nokia phone from which the test was first performed. At that time, 50 percent of all text messages sent in Sweden came from Europolitan's own employees.
And what did it say in Sweden's first text message?
"We don't remember exactly, but we think it said ABC123.
Sydöstran was the first to report on the text message's 30th anniversary.