BEIJING (AFP) - China Unicom said on Monday it will start selling the iPhone in October, marking the official launch of the widely popular handset in the world's largest mobile market.
Unicom, China's second-largest mobile operator by subscribers, will offer the trendy smartphone to its customers in eight service packages costing between 126 yuan (18.5 dollars) and 886 yuan a month, the company said in a statement on its website.
The touchscreen handset will be available in Unicom outlets and other stores across the country starting in October, the company said, without specifying a date.Unicom and US high-tech giant Apple announced last month a multi-year deal to offer the handset in the country, in a hope to attract high-end users to turn around weak performance in competition with rivals China Mobile and China Telecom.
As well as the iPhone, Unicom will launch more than 80 different types of handsets next month, as part of the official start of the carrier's third-generation wireless network on October 1, it added.Third generation telecom services are based on technology that permits transmission of images and video at high speed.
Unicom said it would subsidise the cost of the new mobile phones, including the iPhone, by up to 4,253 yuan. Customers will have to buy at least 186 yuan in pre-paid calls and agree to stay with the carrier for two years.But it was not clear how much each handset would cost.
China is one of the last major markets where the widely popular iPhone is not sold, though analysts say the country is the world's biggest market for smuggled, "unlocked" and counterfeited iPhones.China had 710.5 million mobile users at the end of August, according to government data.
China Unicom had 141.9 million mobile subscribers at the end of August, while its bigger rival China Mobile had 503 million subscribers.
