A China Mobile subsidiary in Suzhou opened reservations for Apple’s iPhone 5s and 5c on Monday, lending further credence to reports that the world’s largest wireless network is about to introduce the popular smartphones to its users.
The reservation webpage popped up as an advertisement on China Mobile’s Suzhou Life Network Web portal, which serves up local news and entertainment for customers on the network. Fortune’sPhilip Elmer-Dewitt was first to spot the site.
The page is not an actual preordering system, instead it allows customers interested in the iPhone to save a spot in line to purchase the handsets when they do roll out.
Fine print on the page says the reservation page is open only to China Mobile users in Suzhou, a city of 5.5 million located in the Jiangsu Province of China. The site says priority for 4G iPhones will be given to those who sign up via the reservation system, but does not specify a date when the rollout will occur.
As of the time of this article, the site is displaying a message asking customers to try again later.
China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported in November that industry insiders said December 18 would be the date of the launch, the same day China Mobile is scheduled to turn on its 4G network.
China Mobile is the world’s largest cellular carrier, with some 740 million subscribers.
