China Mobile launches 4G iPhone

Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook (R) and China Mobile's Chairman Xi Guohua (L) with iPhones pose with a customer at an event celebrating the launch of Apple's iPhone on China Mobile's network at a China Mobile shop in Beijing Jan 17, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

SHANGHAI - China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile network with 760 million subscribers, started selling the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c with 4G network services on Friday.

People lined up on Thursday evening in Shanghai, Nanjing and other cities to buy the first China Mobile iPhones, launched at midnight.

China Mobile iPhones, the first 4G devices available in China, can support 4G/TD-LTE , 3G/TD-SCDMA and GSM networks, according to the business office of China Mobile in Shanghai.

They also support WCDMA and FDD LTE networks abroad meaning easier roaming for customers.

"I am a loyal subscriber of China Mobile with my phone number unchanged for years. I've been waiting a long time for an iPhone on 4G and now I finally got one," said Bai Shengbei, who bought the first 4G iPhone in Shanghai.

China Mobile provides both the bare phones and packages with China Mobile network services.

China Mobile, which has lagged behind in the 3G competition, received its 4G license from the Industry and Information Technology Ministry on Dec 4, 2013. As the world's largest mobile services provider by network scale and subscriber base, China Mobile has been ambitiously rolling out the world's biggest 4G network.

By the end of 2013, China Mobile had 4G services in 16 cities. By the end of 2014, it aims to expand the network to at least 340 cities, more than half the cities in China.