China Telecom is about to get the iPhone 4S.
The third-largest wireless carrier in that Asian nation announced Monday that a CDMA version of Apple's latest smartphone could go on sale as early as late February, but certainly by early March, according to China Daily. The company reportedly has already garnered all of the licenses required to offer the iPhone 4S.
It's unclear just how much China Telecom will charge for the device.
Up until now, China Unicom – the country's second-largest carrier – has been Apple's only partner in China, boosting its 3G customer base (40 million) tremendously. China Telecom (36 million 3G subscribers) thinks the iPhone can help it play catch-up in a hurry.
China Mobile, which China Daily reports has 51 million 3G subscribers (and approximately 630 million overall), is the nation's largest carrier. The company's chairman told Reuters last year that it has 10 million iPhone users on its network, even though the companies do not have a contract. It's widely expected that Apple and China Mobile may come to an agreement in time for the debut of an LTE-compatible iPhone, something many so-called experts predict will happen later this year.
