China Unicorn will begin selling iPhones with Wi-Fi on Monday, Aug. 9, in China, reports the “Associated Press” (http://macosg.me/2/nu). The wireless provider began selling the Apple smartphone in October, but early models lacked wireless connections due to Chinese regulations.
China Unicom will sell 8GB iPhones with third-generation service and Wi-Fi throughout China starting Monday. The company also sells 16GB and 32GB iPhones without Wi-Fi.
Beijing barred use of Wi-Fi while the government tried to develop a competing Chinese system, dubbed WAPI but regulations issued this year allow Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is seen as important to the success of the iPhone in China because many people want to use the devices to surf the web, but don’t want to pay higher data rates for using the mobile network. In the past China has required mobile phones with Wi-Fi also to support WAPI, a “homegrown” security protocol.