China Unicom Unveils Wo 3G Services

China Unicom is the second largest mobile phone operator in the country, following China Mobile, and the company is now reported to prepare the launch of its first UMTS/3G network, planned for May 17, in a move triggered by the fact that the Chinese government granted licenses for 3G networks at the beginning of this year.

The new 3G services the carrier will launch will be branded “Wo,” as C114.net reports, while also stating that the company plans to announce the release of its WCDMA 3G and Wo services in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

According to the news, the Chinese mobile phone carrier also intends to release no less than 49 new 3G devices to work with its network and to support the services, and the list shows more than 40 phones from handset makers like Nokia, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, ZTE, Huawei, Sharp, Lenovo and others.

China Unicom plans to extend its 3G networks to more than 284 cities across the country before the end of the ongoing year, so as to be able to offer its services to a greater number of mobile phone users. The image attached to this article shows the stylized logos for the Wo brand.

The list of devices to support China Unicom’s Wo service at first includes Nokia 6210 Navigator, LG GM730, Sony Ericsson W995 and Sony Ericsson T707, among other handsets. More information on the Wo services can be found on the official website the company built for the brand.

LG, one of the phone makers to supply handsets to China Mobile, will also work with the other two Chinese carriers, China Mobile and China Telecom, and ZTE is expected to do the same, as it recently announced plans to unveil 3G devices that would work on TD-SCDMA, CDMA and WCDMA networks, while also planning to become a leader on the Chinese 3G phone market.