China’s BeiDou navigation system is set to reap more domestic users and accelerate its replacement of the US-based GPS system after a state-owned telecoms giant teamed up with major domestic mobile phone makers to popularise the use of its unique short messaging function.

Under the short messaging service (SMS) communication partnership announced on Tuesday, China Telecom, the country’s third-largest mobile communications operator, will work with phone manufacturers to enable its 423 million mobile users to connect to the BeiDou SMS platform in areas without mobile network coverage, the company said on its website.

Key phone manufacturers such as Huawei Technologies, Xiaomi, OPPO, Vivo and ZTE have agreed to promote the BeiDou SMS platform together, along with companies such as HaiGe Communication and HaiLiao Satellite Communication.

Full support for the BeiDou SMS function, which connects mobile phones via the system’s satellites, will start from next year, China Telecom said. In November last year it said that one of its focuses for this year would be encouraging leading domestic phone brands to fully support direct satellite connections.

On Tuesday, China Telecom also established a wholly owned subsidiary in Shenzhen – Tiantong Satellite Technology (Shenzhen) – to fully support BeiDou’s development, according to corporate information provider Tianyancha.