China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said it will give the go-ahead to privately run MVNOs as early as May.

MIIT’s swift timetable was reported by local media. It was only in January that the country’s telecoms regulator said it would listen to feedback on its proposal for a two year MVNO trial.

Under the proposals, firms that have their MVNO applications rubber-stamped by MIIT can offer mobile services directly to customers after purchasing bandwidth at “fair prices” from either China Mobile, China Telecom or China Unicom.

According to local reports, Chinese software firm Ufida has confirmed it’s among the MVNO applicants, as has Suning, a home appliance chain retailer.

Other possible firms in the running, according to industry sources, include Tencent and e-commerce giant Alibaba.

As a bare minimum, MVNO applicants must have telecoms experience and more than 50 employees.