China Unicom was expected to invite bids for WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) equipment for the first-phase network on September 26, China Business News reported on September 24. During the first-phase network construction, the company plans to deploy more than 70,000 base stations, covering 200 cities. Current bidders in the running for the tender include Ericsson, Nokia Siemens, Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei and ZTE, according to the same report.

China Unicom has carried out trial runs for its WCDMA network in eight cities in China, China Tech News reported, adding that the company's WCDMA services are expected to launch in the third quarter of 2009. Should the schedule go as planned, the company's WCDMA network reportedly will be ready for commercial rollout in July 2009, and ultimately a national rollout in September 2009, according to said source.