Second-largest Chinese wireless carrier China Unicom (CHU) will officially launch commercial 3G wireless services on Oct 1, 2009 across 285 Chinese cities. This coincides with the company's launch date of Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPhone in mainland China. China Unicom initially announced that it will commence commercial 3G service roll out on Sep 28, 2009.

China Unicom launched commercial trials of its WCDMA technology-based 3G services in 56 cities (including Beijing and Shanghai ) in May 2009 and subsequently extended that to 44 more cities. The company also initiated commercial 3G trials in 168 more Chinese cities in August 2009.

To facilitate the deployment of its 3G WCDMA network, China Unicom has collaborated with Ericsson (ERIC) under a $700 million deal. The company has also announced that it will adopt a uniform 3G tariff package in an effort to reduce prices for its 3G customers. Moreover, China Unicom will

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China Unicom (CHU), the second largest wireless service provider in China, will offically commence the commercial roll-out of its 3G wireless services on Sept. 28, 2009 across 285 cities in China. The company will also offer nine 3G bundled service packages with monthly price ranging from RMB 98 ($14.34) to RMB 886 ($129.68). Following the overhaul of the Chinese telecom industry, the Chinese government issued three 3G licenses in early 2009 with China Unicom being awarded the license for WCDMA, a widely adopted 3G technology with approximately 70% share of worldwide 3G subscribers. China Unicom launched commercial trials of its 3G services in 56 cities (including Beijing and Shanghai) in May 2009 and subsequently extended that to 44 more cities. The company also initiated commercial 3G trials in 168 more Chinese cities in August 2009. China Unicom has already amassed 350,000 3G users across its network ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 3, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: China Unicom (CHU), Telefonica (TEF), Ericsson (ERIC), China Mobile (CHL) and China Telecom (CHA).

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Here are highlights from Friday’s Analyst Blog:

CHU Expanding 3G Trials

China Unicom (CHU) has launched commercial trials of its 3G services in 56 cities (including Beijing and Shanghai) in May 2009 and recently extended that to 44 more cities. The company plans to spend RMB110 billion (US$15.9 billion) in 2009, with the significant increase

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China Unicom (CHU) yesterday announced that it will initiate commercial trials of its 3G wireless network in 168 more Chinese cities from August 1. This will expand the total nationwide coverage to 268 cities as the second largest Chinese wireless carrier has already launched 3G trials in 100 cities. The additional cities will be spread across 18 provinces including Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian, Sichuan, Yunnan and Hunan.   Following the overhaul of the Chinese telecom industry, the Chinese government issued three 3G licenses in early 2009 and awarded China Unicom the license for WCDMA, a widely adopted 3G technology.   China Unicom has launched commercial trials of its 3G services in 56 cities (including Beijing and Shanghai) in May 2009 and recently extended that to 44 more cities. The company plans to spend RMB110 billion (US$15.9 billion) in 2009, with the significant increase (approximately 56% year over year) primarily attributable

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China Unicom (CHU) has advanced a step closer in its bid to offer iPhones as the company has reportedly inked a preliminary deal with Apple Inc. (AAPL) for the launch of the revolutionary handset in mainland China.

According to a Chinese media source, the second-largest Chinese wireless carrier has secured an exclusive distribution right for iPhones for three years. If everything goes as planned, the company will launch iPhone 3G by the end of September 2009. However, none of the companies have confirmed any such deal officially.

The agreement calls for China Unicom to purchase iPhones worth RMB 3,000 ($439) per unit from Apple and guarantee annual sales of 1-2 million units, producing at least RMB 5 billion ($732 million) in revenues. Apple will book profits from terminal sales and value-added services generated by the iPhone platform.

China Unicom has long been in negotiations with Apple to

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China Mobile (CHL) recently revealed its plan to invest RMB 70 billion (US$10.25 billion) over the next 3 years to build, upgrade and expand its wireless network in the rural regions of China.

Since 2004, the company has spent RMB19.5 billion (US$3 billion) to extend its network coverage into the remote villages of the country.

The largest mobile carrier in the world by subscribers has signed a pact with the country's Ministry of Agriculture to include more than 10,000 villages annually under its network coverage, enabling people in these regions to access the company's wireless services by 2012. This will translate into 98% coverage of China's rural areas by the end of the 3-year term.

Additionally, China Mobile will also promote its indigenously developed 3G technology-based services in these covered territories.

China Mobile's leadership position in the global wireless market is supported by a consistently healthy Chinese economy, increased consumer purchasing power

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China Unicom's 3G venture remains on trackChina Unicom Hong Kong Limited (CHU), the second largest wireless service provider in China, has reportedly commenced commercial trials of its 3G wireless services in an additional 44 Chinese cities, thereby increasing its 3G coverage to a total of 100 cities.Following the recently concluded restructuring of the Chinese telecom industry, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China issued three 3G licenses in early 2009 with China Unicom being awarded the license for WCDMA, a widely adopted 3G technology with approximately 70% share of worldwide 3G subscribers.China Unicom has already launched commercial trials for its 3G services in 55 cities (including Beijing and Shanghai) in May 2009, and plans to cover 284 cities by the end of the year with 74% ...