According to Market Watch, China Mobile Ltd. has indeed come to a consensus with Apple Inc. on using its fourth-generation technology on iPhones in the China Mobile network. The announcement, made by China Mobile president Wang Jianzhou, didn’t give a timetable for when the new product would enter the market.
The adoption of 4G technology and the iPhone are both part of China Mobile’s plan to diversify its offerings through value-added services. According to Chairman Jianzhou, the company also plans to expand outside of China and break into emerging markets such as Myanmar and Taiwan.
China Mobile failed to win a deal to provide the iPhone 3G because it uses TD-SCDMA, a homegrown standard. The mobile operator’s biggest rival China Unicom Ltd. (0762.HK, 600050.SH, NYSE:CHU) won the deal instead, and has been steadily eating into China Mobile’s high-end users base ever since.
Wang added China Mobile has still not officially introduced iPhone products, but it has already prepared subscriber packages for iPhone users. China Mobile now has four million unofficial iPhone users, and that number is still growing, Wang added.
Wang also said at the company’s shareholder conference on Thursday that China Mobile is planning to list on China’s A-share market. The company will not issue new shares to avoid damaging the interests of existing shareholders, he said.
He didn’t unveil the timetable of listing at the conference.
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