The much rumored iPhone launch deal with China Mobile has finally been signed. We heard a lot of rumors this year that the world’s largest mobile operator is finally going to start carrying some of the world’s most popular smartphones. Even though its rivals, China Unicom and China Telecom, have offered previous iPhone models in the past, China M0bile starts off with the two latest smartphones from Apple, iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c.
One major hurdle in the way of an iPhone launch on China Mobile was the carrier’s TD-LTE service. Just last week China finally granted 4G licenses to commercial carriers, meaning that the carrier can finally start its commercial 4G service. The country’s official news agency has already confirmed that China Mobile’s 4G service is going to be switched on December 18th. According to the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, both iPhones are likely to be launched on the carrier around December 18th as well. Apple has already received the regulatory approval required to run its iPhones on China Mobile’s TD-LTE network. It received the approval back in August. Analysts expect that a decent penetration into the carrier’s over 750 million strong subscriber base could bring in an additional $9-$10 billion in revenue for Apple every single year.
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