China Telecom Corp. became the second Chinese mobile operator to sign a deal with Canada-based Research In Motion Ltd. to offer BlackBerry devices in the mainland, in a move that could help the telecommunications company gain competitiveness in the third-generation wireless market.

The company joins China Mobile Ltd. in offering BlackBerry devices. The agreement also could help China Telecom gain ground against China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd., which offers Apple Inc.'s iPhones.

China Telecom spokesman Jacky Yung said Monday the company is working out the practical arrangements with RIM. It doesn't have a timetable yet for when it will start offering the BlackBerry devices.

He also said the company is still in talks with Palm Inc. to offer Palm's handsets in the mainland.

China Telecom, China's largest fixed-line operator by subscribers, acquired China Unicom's code division multiple access business in October 2008 as part of a government-mandated restructuring of the country's telecom sector. China Telecom has been striving to improve the operation with better network coverage and more handset models for consumers.

China Telecom hopes BlackBerry devices will give it an edge to attract an elite customer base in Chinese cities.

Since 2006, RIM has offered BlackBerry handsets to big businesses in China through China Mobile, the world's biggest telecom operator by subscribers.

Earlier this month, RIM said it will offer BlackBerry handsets to individual users and small businesses in China through China Mobile. RIM also plans to introduce a BlackBerry handset running on a Chinese-developed mobile-phone technology called time division synchronous code division multiple access.

Analysts said the news is positive for China Telecom because more handset choices will help it add more mobile users. However, the move may not significantly boost the company's earnings in the near term, they said.

source:wsj