Local media reports that China's four main telecom operators China Unicom (CHU), China Mobile (CHL), China Netcom (CN) and China Telecom (CHA) are busy customizing mobile phones to prepare for 3G services.

    According to the reports, China Unicom is enlarging its order of CDMA mobile phones that cover all the sectors of low-end, middle-end and high-end markets. China Mobile will release a new batch of customized mobile phones on July 5, and China Netcom is secretly developing WiFi/GSM mobile phones. Meanwhile, China Telecom is pushing mobile phone manufacturers to develop PHS/GSM/3G double module or even tri-module mobile phones.

    In 2005,Chinese operators purchased a total of 10.7 million mobile phones, of which about 7 million were bought by China Mobile and 3.7 million by China Unicom. In 2006, the quantity of mobile phones they bought was further increased and this year, China Unicom alone will reportedly purchase about 8 million mobile phones.

    These operators are making great efforts in purchasing mobile phones probably to avoid a shortage of terminals for when the 3G era arrives, finally.