Text messaging is a more expensive way to transfer data than receiving information from the Hubble Space Telescope, according to research from vendor Vyke Communications.

The typical cost for a standard 160 character text message is approximately 12 pence and every character sent in a text message equates to 1 byte of data.

When translating this into a per megabyte cost, this works out as approximately £750 per megabyte.

Comparatively, the US space agency NASA pays about £61.50 per megabyte to receive data from the Hubble Space Telescope, located 600km from Earth.

This amount includes all personnel, operational, data transmission and data processing costs for the Hubble program and equates to UK mobile users paying 12.3 times more byte for byte than NASA pays to capture and process images of outer space.