Just what we need: more services to depend on the already-obsolete SMS. From the standpoint of a gov't agency, that decision makes a lot of sense, but just further illustrates to me how badly we need to transition to messaging protocols like XMPP that are designed for use in the modern world.
It is important to understand why this innovation did not happen in the U.S.
In Europe, the old national postal systems have to compete for customers, thanks to EU deregulation.
In the U.S., where the postal service regular mail is a monopoly, it is not in the postal service's interest to innovate and offer new services-- they make money from people buying, storing, and never using physical stamps.
