China Unicom adds iPhone to portfolio

Chinese carrier China Unicom, which was recently blessed with the award of a WCDMA 3G licence, appears to be fleshing out its future portfolio of devices with a mouth watering array of gadgets.

A portfolio of 3G handsets has appeared on the China Unicom website, including the iPhone 3G, which is fuelling rumours that the Chinese operator and Apple have reached a breakthrough in reported discussions on plans to bring the iconic device to China.

The iPhone is in good company too, with the rest of the line up showcasing the Android G1 device, the Sony Ericsson X1, the forthcoming Nokia N97 and the Nokia E71.

In January, the Chinese government finally awarded 3G licenses to the country’s three incumbent operators – China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom.

China Mobile will offer services using China’s homegrown TD-SCDMA standard, China Unicom will use WCDMA, and China Telecom will use EV-DO.

In December, the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced that it expects spending on equipment by carriers to total US$41 billion over the next two years.