MANILA, Philippines—You can now send and receive text messages from Google’s Gmail to Globe, Smart, and Sun subscribers free of charge.

This after Google announced Friday that it is offering free text messaging to Globe, Smart & Sun dubbed Gmail-to-SMS.

“We are very excited to be launching SMS capabilities in Gmail Chat today,” said Myriam Boublil, head of Communications and Public Affairs of Google Southeast Asia.

To avail of the free service, all you need is a Gmail account that is also being offered for free, she said.

Google said the procedure is very easy even for those not familiar with Gmail.

“SMS in Gmail Chat will bring a new level of flexibility and mobility to Gmail users in the Philippines. With more than 70 million mobile subscribers in the Philippines and the country being the SMS capital of the world, we think this service will allow for seamless integration between mobile and PC communication and make it more convenient for Pinoys to send each other messages,” she said.

To avail of this FREE Gmail-to-SMS service to Globe, Smart and Sun:

• First, you need a Gmail account. If you already have one, then go to the new SMS BOX at the lower left hand corner of your Gmail page, right above the Chat box.

• Input the recipient’s mobile phone number in the box provided: +639*********

• A dialog box will appear in the middle of the screen asking for the input of the recipient’s name. After which, a message window will appear on the lower part of your screen.

• Input your SMS / text message in the space provided, hit enter and you’re done!

• Test in on you own phone. The message will be received after about two seconds, as fast as regular SMS messaging.

Fifty free SMS messages are allocated to each account at first and every time you send a message, your allocation decreases by one, a related article posted on the web said.

Every time you receive an SMS message in Chat (for example when a phone user replies to one of your messages) your quota increases by five, up to a maximum of 50, it added.

“This means that when you receive a reply to your free message, or when you yourself reply to a received message on your phone, standard text message charges apply. In other words, reply SMS / text is not free. That’s how local carriers make money out of this scheme and that’s why they have accepted it,” Google said.

“If you don’t receive replies to your messages, your allocation will be reduced until it reaches O. But worry not, you will be given 1 free allocation after 24 hours, which means you can still send at least one free text daily through the Gmail-to-SMS system. Hopefully, someone will reply to replenish your free allocation,” Google said.