China Telecom – currently in the process of acquiring China Unicom’s CDMA network – has issued tenders worth up to HK$34.3 billion (US$4.4 billion) for expansion of the network into new coverage areas, according to a South China Morning Post report. The article notes that initial contracts are expected to be awarded within a few weeks. The move follows reports this week that the operator expects to begin selling CDMA devices in October and has contacted potential handset manufacturers for initial supply of 10 million low-end devices. China Telecom acquired the CDMA business from China Unicom last month as part of the restructuring of the Chinese telecoms market. The deal marks the fixed-line operator’s first foray into the Chinese mobile market.

Meanwhile, Dow Jones Newswires reports that the restructuring of China’s telecoms industry will take about half a year, citing comments from the country’s vice minister of Industry and Information Technology, Xi Guohua. Speaking at a press conference about telecom services for next month’s Olympics, Xi did not give a specific timeline for the industry restructuring. Confirming expectations, Xi said China would not provide services based on two commercial 3G technologies developed abroad – WCDMA and CDMA2000 1xEV-DO – during the Olympic Games. The minister reiterated plans by China Mobile to supply handsets based on local 3G standard TD-SCDMA during the Olympics. Commercial 3G licenses are expected to be awarded in China after the Games and once restructuring is complete.