Beijing Telecom, a subsidiary of China Telecom, may launch a CDMA version of the iPhone 4S by the end of February or at the beginning of March, according to a statement issued by the company.
Chinese demand for the iPhone 4S has been very strong, leading to riots earlier this year, when Apple could not get enough product into its retail stores to meet demand.
Beijing Telecom, without disclosing the pricing details, said that it has already started preparatory work for the launch of the iPhone 4S. “The move would ramp up the pressure on the company’s domestic rivals in the fight to win more subscribers to the third-generation (3G) network service,” China’s People’s Daily said in a news report.
China Telecom has reportedly acquired the three required operating licenses for launching the device.
According to the People’s Daily news report, the China Radio Management Office granted permission to Apple’s application for a handset operating on the CDMA2000 network standard in mid-January. The second permit was granted by China’s Telecommunications Equipment and Certification Center.
“On Monday, the CDMA-version iPhone 4S gained the final license, which recognizes the device as qualified and (it) can now be sold on the Chinese mainland, according to the website of the China Compulsory Certification Online Service Center,” the People’s Daily report states.
The impending launch is likely to increase 3G subscribers for China Telecom’s network. According to the latest data (end of 2011), China Telecom has the third largest 3G (EV-DO standard) market share (29%) with 36.29 million users. China Mobile occupies 40% market share with 51.21 million 3G users (TD-SCDMA format).
China Unicom, which is the only company at the moment that offers an Apple device on contract, has 40.01 million users and 31% 3G market share.
The China Telecom launch may also benefit Apple, which lags behind other smartphone vendors like Nokia, Samsung, and Huawei in China. The CDMA iPhone 4S will help the company sell a large number devices to millions of subscribers.
