Talks between Apple and China’s top mobile carrier may be off for now, but negotiations have apparently been ongoing with the country’s number two carrier, China Unicom. The iPhone could become part of the company’s launch of an iPhone-compatible 3G network as early as May 17.
According to a spokesperson for China Unicom, talks with Apple began in October last year. One point firmly in favor of China Unicom is that the carrier plans to roll out a 3G network based on the WCDMA standard—the protocol used by the iPhone—this May. China Mobile uses a Chinese-only variation called TD-SCDMA, which would require custom handsets for that carrier.