China Unicom To Sell 3G Services In Retail Outlets

Chinese telecom operator China Unicom and Five Star Appliance, Best Buy's electronics retail subsidiary in China, have signed a strategic cooperation agreement covering various services of China Unicom.

Under the agreement, Five Star Appliance will set up special zones in its stores in China to handle businesses and sell mobile phones for China Unicom. Users can apply for network accesses to China Unicom's 2G, 3G and broadband services, as well as recharge their China Unicom mobile accounts in these stores. They can also participate in promotional activities jointly launched by China Unicom and Five Star Appliance.

Meanwhile, the two parties will implement full cooperation in sales of contracted 3G mobile phones, business handling, and marketing.

As China Unicom's second home appliances and electronics retail channel partner, Five Star Appliance has settled down in seven provinces in China, including Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Shandong, Henan, Sichuan, and Yunnan. It currently has nearly 170 chain stores and annual revenue of about CNY26 billion.