Unicom, China’s mobile operator with the second-largest subscribers base, will offer the Chinese version of the trendy smartphone which does not include Wi-Fi networking support, to its customers in eight service packages costing between 126 yuan (18.5 dollars) and 886 yuan a month, according to a statement on its website. These packages will include 450MB to 4GB of mobile data access, 120 to 880 SMS messages, 15 to 95 MMS messages, and between 320 to 3,000 minutes of talk time.

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.

In addition to the iPhone, Unicom will also introduce to China?s mobile market 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 or 3G telecom services are based on technology that permits transmission of images and video at high speed.

For an unspecified duration, Unicom said it would subsidise the cost of the new mobile phones, including the iPhone, by up to 4,253 yuan, although it was not clear how much each handset would cost. Customers will have to buy at least 186 yuan in pre-paid calls and agree to a lock up period of two years.

China is one of the last major markets where the widely popular iPhone is officially not sold, though analysts say the country is the world’s biggest market for smuggled, “unlocked” and counterfeited iPhones.

China has an unmatched 710.5 million mobile users as of the end of August, according to government data.

China Unicom?s subscribers base was at 141.9 million by the end of August, while its bigger rival China Mobile had 503 million subscribers.

Source : Konaxis