Americans punched out more than 110 billion text messages in December 2008, double the number in the last month of 2007, as the shorthand communication becomes a popular alternative to cell phone calls.

The nations 270 million cell phone subscribers each sent out an average of 407 text messages in December 2008, according to government statistics released Tuesday by the Census Bureau. That is more than double the 188 messages sent by the average cell subscriber during the same period in 2007. The figures did not break down the texting by age, but the overall numbers understate the thousands of texts sent each month by many teens — balanced out by older folks who don't text as much.

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