China?Telecom will provide CDMA iPhone 4 and related services on the Chinese mainland as early as next month, industry sources said yesterday.

About February 10, China Telecom's branch in Zhejiang Province is likely to begin to help users input mobile number information to their new CDMA phones, including iPhone 4 and HTC models, so that they can use CDMA phones in China without SIM cards, Sina.com, the biggest Chinese news portal, reported yesterday, citing a post in China Telecom's internal forum.

Apple and Verizon Communications announced last week they will launch the new CDMA iPhone 4 in the United States on February 10.

But the new iPhone 4 can't be directly used in the domestic market because it hasn't an independent SIM card, which is necessary for China Telecom's network.

"We can't receive iPhone 4 pre-orders now but I strongly recommend you call us again at the end of this month," said China Telecom Zhejiang branch's hotline.

China Telecom's Shanghai branch yesterday denied it had any plan to launch the CDMA iPhone 4.

Other industry sources, who are close to China Telecom and declined to be identified, said the country's third-biggest telco will launch the CDMA version of iPhone 4 on the mainland in the middle of this year, three or four months after its US debut.

Analysts say it's more likely that the CDMA iPhone 4 will debut in the middle of this year because China Telecom and Apple need time to add SIM cards to the new version of iPhone 4.