Earlier this month, we reported that China Telecom earned the necessary approvals to launch the iPhone 4S on China’s third-largest carrier. Today, the China Telecom subsidiary Beijing Telecom issued a press release (via China Daily) and said the Beijing-based company will launch the iPhone 4S as early as the end of February or beginning of March.
A CDMA version of the iPhone 4S will launch on the network. The press release gave no word on pricing for the device, but it will likely fall in line with the other networks.
China Telecom currently boasts 36.3 million 3G subscribers, while in comparison the nation’s largest carrier China Mobile Ltd., boasts 51.2 million 3G subscribers. Obviously, the launch of the iPhone 4S brings a lot of excitement in China, and it gives Apple the chance to add new customers. Moreover, launching on China Mobile would add an abundance of new customers, but that does not look to be happening anytime soon.
This month’s earlier launch of the iPhone 4S in China was temporarily halted by a riot caused by scalpers. In order to combat scalpers, Apple is launching a new lottery system at its Hong Kong store.
- iPhone gets necessary approval from China Radio Management agency for use on China Telecom (9to5mac.com)
- China Unicom offering free iPhone 4S on multiyear agreements (9to5mac.com)
- Huge lines form at Apple Stores in China for iPhone 4S launch (9to5mac.com)
- Apple combats scalpers with new lottery system for iPhone reservations in Hong Kong (9to5mac.com)
