French network provider Orange announce it has teamed up with mobile ad provider Amobee Media Systems (AMS) in Switzerland in order to test out text message advertising, La Vie Financière reported Wednesday.

The purpose of the experiment was to study the potential that mobile phone ads might have in European markets.

According to Orange, whose subsidies are owned by France Telecom, text messaging is the most effective way for a brand to communicate with mobile phone users.

“SMS (Short Message Service) resents possibly the greatest prospect for advertising in the mobile world,” said AMS CEO Zohar Levkowitz, according to La Vie Financière. “Billions of SMS are sent and received each day, which by far surpasses the impact of all the Web sites, TV, radio and newspapers. No other media than SMS has attained such an audience with its global nature.”

The ad was inserted into the non-used part of the text message, whose capacity was restricted to 160 characters.