China Unicom's parent company, China United Communications Corporation has revealed that it plans to build a nationwide WCDMA based network and will start issuing tenders for the contracts in November.
The company had been expected to start with a piecemeal deployment starting in the south of the country, but a source refuted this saying that the rollout would be nationwide.
China Unicom recently said that it expects its investment in 3G networks during 2009 and 2010 to total around US$14.6 billion. The company expects its 3G network to break into operational profitability by 2013.
The company is aiming to have the tenders in place and the agreements signed ready for the government to formally issue 3G licenses - expected by the end of this year.
Rival operator, China Telecom is expected to stick with CDMA2000 and both companies are planning an agressive approach to try and take market share from the dominant telco, China Mobile. As China Mobile has already started rolling out its 3G services it should have a head start, but the requirement to build a TD-SCDMA network is considered by many to be a downside for the operator.