Good news. The best webmail in town just got better. Now you no longer need that precious invitation in order to get signed up. Google has opened up Gmail registration to the public!

Well, actually, it’s been quite available for some time in certain regions: you could sign up for Gmail even without an invitation. But that requires that you enter a validation code that Google sends via text messsaging or SMS.

To sign up, just log in to http://gmail.google.com and click on the big Sign Up link below the login box. You will then be led to a page where you’re asked to enter your mobile number.

After you input your mobile number and key in the CAPTCHA anti-spam character sequence, you then wait for Google to text you the code. Google will also prompt your to enter the code before allowing you to sign up for your username and other details.

You can then proceed to the usual signup.

Remember the time when Gmail invitations were limited to 10 per user? That made Gmail invites a precious commodity. Some were even being auctioned off at eBay for exorbitant prices. Then Google increased the invitation limit to 100. This effectively made Gmail more accessible, since 100 is more than enough to go by. And once the invited person signs up and uses Gmail for a few days or weeks, he/she can then also invite up to 100.

I still know a handful of people not using Gmail, and frankly I think their email services suck! I’m hoping that more users will sign up for Gmail now that it’s more accessible.