By Pauline Askin

SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - Having an affair? It pays to keep it low-tech, with a new Australian survey finding that a quarter of mobile phone users had discovered their partner, or heard that someone else's, was cheating because of text messages.

The poll, conducted by dominant phone company Telstra Corp, also showed that one in five had sent a text message meant for their partner or lover to somebody else by mistake.

The "State of the Nation Report," which surveyed more than 1,200 mobile phone users in May, revealed that Australians were addicted Australians texting, with 30 percent saying SMSes were their preferred method of communication.

"Texting has become an indispensable part of our everyday lives," Glenice Maclellan, Telstra consumer executive director, said in a statement that added that the trend of prolific texting seems to be causing trouble when it comes to romance.

"This is an interesting reflection of Australia's wider lifestyle trends," added social researcher Mark McCrindle in the statement accompanying the report.

"The fact that one in three prefer texting to other communication forms signals the natural fit of this technology to our increasingly time poor, busy lifestyles."

The survey showed that four in 10 mobile users send up to seven texts a day, with the bulk going to family and friends. Women, in particular, valued mobile phones because they enabled them to stay in touch with loved ones.

And Australians are not shy to text about anything, anywhere and at any time, with one in four using SMSes to announce a birth and nearly a fifth using it broadcast a job promotion.

Fifteen percent admitted they would text at a funeral, a wedding or a christening ceremony while 14 percent said they texted in church.

(Editing by Miral Fahmy)