China Telecom starts iPhone 5 pre-orders

China Telecom, the smallest of the country's three telecom carriers, has started taking pre-orders for the iPhone 5, a member of the customer service staff at the company's Beijing branch confirmed Sunday, offering the latest indication of the upcoming availability of the iPhone in the mainland market.

"We'll contact you immediately if the iPhone 5 hits our shelves," said the customer service employee on China Telecom's hotline when reached by the Global Times Sunday.

"China Telecom's version (of the iPhone 5) will go on sale sometime in December," he said.

However, a member of the PR staff at China Telecom told the Global Times Sunday that the exact shipping date for the iPhone 5 remains uncertain.

Earlier this month, Suning, the country's largest home appliance retailer, also said it had begun taking pre-orders for Apple's latest handset model.

China Unicom, which first partnered with Apple to introduce the iPhone 4 in 2009, has yet to begin pre-orders for the new iPhone.

"We have no information yet as to the arrival (of China Unicom's version of the iPhone 5)," Wen Baoqiu, spokesman for China Unicom, told the Global Times Sunday.

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