China Mobile recently announced that it will discontinue five products, including the Monternet nationwide short and multimedia messaging services, on April 30. This marks the official countdown to the phase-out of "Mobile Monternet" and its related services, which carry the early mobile internet memories of countless Chinese people.
According to the announcement, due to adjustments in product operation strategies, five products under China Mobile — including He Shenghuo, Nongxintong, Mobile Market, 12590 (Voice Magazine), and the Monternet nationwide short and multimedia messaging services — will be officially taken offline and cease service at 24:00 on April 30, 2026.
Mobile Monternet was a unified brand for mobile data services and a mobile internet platform launched by China Mobile in December 2000. It offered diverse services such as SMS, MMS, WAP browsing, and mobile games, serving as a key gateway to mobile internet in the 2G era and a typical model for China Mobile's SP/CP value-added service development. The service quickly gained popularity upon its launch, peaking with nearly 100 million monthly active users. However, with the proliferation of smartphones and the adoption of 3G and 4G networks, traditional WAP portals were gradually replaced by native apps. As a result, the scale of Mobile Monternet services continued to shrink, user numbers declined, and the service was progressively phased out until the recent announcement of its official discontinuation.