China Unicom Plans Launching Android Phones

Chinese mobile carrier China Unicom is set to deliver mobile phones powered by Google's Android operating system to its users, even if Google has announced the delayed launch of such devices due to a dispute with the Chinese government. The company's top executive announced the plans on Wednesday, stating that the wireless operator was still interested in the mobile platform.

It's a well-known fact that Google has recently postponed plans to launch Android device in China, and has also delayed the availability of Google applications for handsets on the Chinese market, due to the issue with the government in the country. However, it seems that Chinese phone makers still show interest in the Android OS, and the same seems to apply to wireless carriers.

“We acknowledge that Android is a mainstream mobile phone operating system, and we will definitely use it on our mobile phone terminals,” said Chang Xiaobing, chairman and CEO of China Unicom, outside of an event in Beijing, pcworld reports. “We have an open attitude on mobile operating systems.”

China Unicom is one of the three wireless carriers in the country, and is a state-owned company. The operator competes in China against China Mobile and China Telecom, and became not too long ago a member of the Open Handset Alliance, a group focused on the commercialization of Android. The largest carrier in the country, China Mobile, also showed interest in Android, through the launch of devices powered by its own OS, based on Google's platform.

Back in January, Google announced that it would stop censoring results on its China-based search engine, and that it would shut down operations in the country as a result of the conflict with the Chinese government. The launch of Android smartphones from Motorola and Samsung has been already delayed in China, but the government reported that it did not plan on restricting the use of Android in the country as long as it followed local regulations.