Well, it might be that this time US gets SMS. AT&T Wireless reported 2.5 million votes to 'American Idol' were cast via SMS.
This is about 10% of all votes casted, mostly by telephone.

John Zeglis, chief executive of AT&T Wireless Services Inc said nearly 85%of all calls in the U.S. are still made on fixed-wire phones. "We want those minutes in wireless," Mr. Zeglis said. He conceded that the wireless industry would have to lower its costs and upgrade some equipment to compete better with the fixed-line carriers.