China Netcom and China Telecom have jointly announced that the short message service, or SMS, of their smart phones are now compatible with each other, so their users nationwide can begin to enjoy this convenient service.

The decision was announced in a press conference of the country's two major fixed line telephone operators after nine months of negotiation, according to China Radio Internaitonal.

The new service will enable some 60 million smart phone users of China Netcom and China Telecom in over 300 mainland cities to send short messages to one another.

The fee for each message is 0.08 yuan, while receiving a telephone call will remain free.

An executive with China Netcom notes that there is now little technological difficulty in making mobile phone and smart phone SMS services compatible, and his company may soon reach an agreement with China Unicom so that their users can send short messages to each other.

Source: CRI news