> What would the group suggest as the target pic, would the
> 18F4620 do the job

Would be OK. I started a project with a Siemens modem and
a 16F870, then moved to a Wavecom and 18F2550 (for the
USB capability - a basic PIC would still otherwise be fine)

> and has anyone done the SMS part before?

Piece of cake (generally). Virtually all interaction with the modem
is by UART and AT commands. If you need to you can monitor
the physical aspects of the modem (board voltages, signal strength
etc), and some of those are also by AT. Modems aren't limited to
SMS of course. They have voice, fax, and data modes too, all AT

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