China Telecom in talks to add iPhone

Published reports indicate that China Telecom Corp. Ltd. (CHA) is looking to add Apple Inc.’s iPhone to its lineup in an attempt to remain competitive in the Chinese market.
According to a Reuters report, China’s No. 3 operator has contacted Apple about selling the CDMA version of the iconic device. China Telecom is the only major operator in China using the CDMA technology. Larger rivals China Unicom Ltd. (CHU) and China Mobile Ltd. (CHL) rely on W-CDMA and TD-SCDMA respectively.
Reuters reported that China Telecom’s chairman Wang Xiaochu noted the contact with Apple at a shareholder meeting. Currently, China Unicom is the exclusive “official” provider of the iPhone in China, a deal thought to expire next year. Published reports have also indicated that China Mobile is looking to add a TD-LTE version of the iPhone to its network.
“We’re not denying that we’re in touch with iPhone (Apple), but I cannot comment on the progress,” Xiaochu told reporters after a shareholders’ meeting.
The same circumstance recently evolved in the U.S. market where Verizon Wireless began offering a CDMA version of the iPhone 4 following nearly four years of exclusively at AT&T Mobility.