China Mobile may have been the first wireless carrier to attempt bringing the Apple iPhone to China, but it appears that its smaller competitor China Unicom may have been granted the rights. ChinaTechNews is reporting that British consultancy Ovum has stated to media representatives that China Unicom and Apple have reached an agreement and the 3G iPhone could be available in China as early as May 2009.
While no other details were given and neither company has announced anything officially, this would make sense. China recently granted 3G licenses to both mobile service providers, but China Mobile’s TD-SCDMA network isn’t compatible with the iPhone unless Apple makes hardware modifications to the phone. China Unicom, which licences the WCDMA standard, also popular in Europe, is natively compatible with the Apple handset. We’ll keep you updated as more details become available.
