China Telecom Corp Ltd, the nation\'s smallest wireless network operator, launched its first round of procurement tender for fourth-generation terminals on Jan 21, which are expected to go on sale in the first quarter of 2014,Tech.sina.com.cn reported on Tuesday. The 300,000 4G data terminals in the procurement, including data card, MIFI and CPE, must support the TD-LTE network.

The operator aims to sell 36 million fourth-generation terminals in 2014. As of November, China Telecom had 185 million mobile subscribers, including about 100 million 3G customers. "About half of China Telecom\'s customers use smartphones," Chairman Wang Xiaochu said during the 2014 China Telecom Terminal Industry Chain Conference, which was held in Beijing on Thursday. "We will promote our 4G telecom services in major Chinese cities, while in rural areas, China Telecom will continue to push forward 3G services," Wang said.