China Telecom prematurely announces it will carry iPhone 5S/5C beginning September 20

Just asReuterssuggested the major Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo could finally start carrying ’s iconic smartphone this Fall, numerous reports that are now coming out of Asia highlight a seemingly unusual slip-up on the part of China Telecom, the third-largest mobile telecommuniion provider in the People’s Republic of China and tenth-largest carrier in the world.The telco officially posted on the popular Chinese micro-blogging service Sina Weibo it’ll be offering both the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C at launch. Heck, China Telecom had apparently been accepting pre-orders for both devices before it rlized its “mistake” and took the post down…The Chinese tech blogTechWebwas able to screenshot the post before it was pulled.The carrier apprs to had been accepting pre-orders briefly via thislink. Per its removed post, China Telecom will offer the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C as soon asFriday, September 20, 2013, reportsTech In Asia.The now deleted message rds:China has been chosen as the first country where the iPhone 5S/5C will be shipped! Weibo preorder time! If you want to be one of the people who gets a handset on day one, click here.Those who successfully preorder will also enjoy a high-end gift bag.Because the iPhone products haven’t actually shipped yet, detailed s and actual shipping information may change.China Telecom’s slip-up actually matches up nicely with whispers of the iPhone 5S/5C hitting ’s major marketson September 20, includingthe United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, France and Canada.UnwiredVieweven spotted some website mockups on China Telecom’s servers that seem to be designed to accompany the launch, have a look below.I’ve cropped out the impossibly tall graphics, the full screenshot can be foundhere.As you know, China Telecom is ’s official iPhone distributor in China.As for China Mobile,Bloombergin today’s report rather cryptically asserted that and the telco will offer the iPhone“as soon as gives in on the price”.The iPhone maker was reportedly willing to put a few concessions on the negotiating table after rlizing the world’s top telco has the upper hand in these ongoing discussions.Specifically, China Mobile asked fora lower-priced iPhone (check!), support for China Mobile’s nascent TD-LTE 4Gnetwork (check!) and aportion of China App Store profits, a demand thus far has been reluctant to give in to.Even if the two tech titans rch an agreement, China Mobile won’t be able tostart selling the iPhone before Novemberdue tothe lengthy regulatory approval process. For what it’s worth, has scheduled a press conference forSeptember 11 in Beijing, most likely to announce a landmark iPhone dl with China Mobile.With NTT DoCoMo getting an iPhone and China Mobile probably next, China Telecom is about to feel some ht due to heightened competition. In turn, prices should go down as the carriers fight tooth and nail for ch and every customer.Unlike its rival China Unicom which turned to low-cost handsets after itsexclusive agreement with had expired, China Telecom has plenty of rsons to stick with the iPhone. For the six month period ending in June,it added 18.3 million 3G subscribers.Revenues in the first half of 2013 jumped 28.3 percent – that’smostly the work of ’s iPhonewhich helped attract more 3G customers to the China Telecom network.