China Unicom denies plan to sell Apple’s 3G iPhone
China United Telecommunications Corp. (China Unicom), a state-owned mobile operator in the country, denied earlier reports that it will sell Apple Inc’s new 3G version iPhone in mainland China in August.
“We do not hear about any Apple’s 3G iPhone sales deal between China Unicom and Apple. There is no concrete contact between both sides at present,” said a spokesman from China Unicom when asked about its cooperation program with Apple Inc.
An insider of China Unicom said it is impossible for the company to launch iPhone sales plan in August as the restructuring of China’s telecom sector will not be completed by then and issues like the operation structure of the telecom operators and 3G licenses still remain unclear, according to the source.
Chinese media reported earlier that China Unicom has reached an agreement with Apple Inc to introduce the new iPhone 3G in mainland China, which is also in line with an earlier report citing Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs that the 3G iPhone is expected to enter mainland China this year.
China Unicom, providing both CDMA and GSM services, recently agreed to sell its CDMA network and business to China Telecom, as part of the government plan to restructure its telecom industry. It will also merge its remaining GSM business with China Netcom, a process which is expected to end in October.
Tags: 3G, Apple, CDMA, China-Netcom, China-Tietong, China-Unicom, GSM, telecom