Research in Motion (RIM) is in talks with China Telecom about carrying BlackBerry device on its 3G network, according to a research note by Kaufman Brothers analyst Shaw Wu.
He expects a deal as early as February 2010.
Currently, China Mobile offers a few 2G BlackBerry devices, but overall RIM's inroads in China have been fairly minimal.
Wu said the reason for RIM's limited traction in China is due to the Canadian manufacturer's reluctance to modify its security software for China.
Although China Telecom is the smallest wireless operator in the country, with 42 million subscribers on its CDMA network, much of its customer base is enterprise and government and thus a good fit for the enterprise-centric BlackBerry.
RIM isn't the only device company looking to expand to China. Last week China Unicom inked a three-year deal to carry Apple's iPhone. The agreement is not exclusive, however.
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