The social networking website Twitter on Friday announced it has partnered with two satellite providers to make its messaging service available on satellite phones for the first time. A post on the company's blog said Twitter has partnered with the two largest satellite operators, Iridium and Thuraya, to allow their subscribers to access Twitter SMS. It will enable people to access the popular social networking website even if phone lines and the Internet are inaccessible."We continue to build out SMS capability because we recognize the importance and value of making our service available to every person on the planet," the blog post said. "No matter what device people use - from the most advanced smartphone to the simplest feature phone - people around the world should be able to send and read Tweets." Twitter, which initially began as an SMS service when it launched in July 2006, said the new service via Iridium and Thuraya will allow people to share news and stay informed via Twitter even when they are in a war zone or an area affected by a natural disaster. It may also offer an alternative in countries such as China where governments block access to Twitter. According to Alexa.com, Twitter.com is the ninth most visited website worldwide. Twitter says its users post approximately 250 million messages a day on average, or about 2,900 tweets per second.
