China United Telecommunications Corporation (China Unicom) announced yesterday it has inked agreements with China Telecom and China Netcom, the country's two largest fixed-line operators, on the interconnection of short messaging services between mobile phones and "little smart" wireless telephone services.

Meanwhile, the company also kicked off four experimental networks for the interoperable short messaging services in Beijing, Jiangsu, Hebei and Jilin provinces.

"But there is still no set timetable for the commercial launch of the interconnection of short messaging services as it will depend on the result of the experiment and strategic deployment of the Ministry of Information Industry," China Unicom said in a statement.

The agreements stated the interconnection fee between China Unicom, China Telecom and China Netcom is set at 0.05 yuan (0.6 US cents) for each piece of short message.

Analysts believe the interoperability of the short message service will definitely boost the development of "little smart" phone services.

Source: China Daily