China’s third major telecom operator- China Unicom has commenced the trial run of its WCDMA network starting with over 55 cities, which will eventually expand to 284 cities by September and a full commercial launch will take place by the year end.

Chairman Chang Xiaobing, of China Unicom (Hong Kong) had earlier said that he expects the company’s 3G services to ring in profit in 2010 but cautioned of a drop in profit margin owing to the growing competition.

Late last year, the Chinese government said that it expects the three mobile networks of the country to spend US$41 billion together on their 3G networks, with at least $29 billion being spent within the next twelve months.

China Unicom anticipates its capital expenditure to top $8.8 billion during 2009, with a further $5.8 billion to be spent in 2010.

The company has recently announced its plans of investing $8.6 billion on its own network during 2009.