China Unicom to kick off 3G service from Oct.

China Unicom says 3G services will kick off across 285 cities Thursday this week. China's second largest mobile operator also announced new moves to cut prices for its subscribers.

China Unicom says it will adopt a uniform 3G tariff package for the whole country, while also finally going ahead with one-way billing.

3G users can also look forward to lower prices when that service starts officially next month.

Package service charges will range from 66 yuan to 886 yuan per month.

In terms of the network, China Unicom says most of its subscribers should even now be able to access 3G services.

While it won't be long before more, and cheaper, phones will offer this new service. Current models cost on average more than 2,000 yuan and the range is limited.

But China Unicom says as many as 38 new models will soon hit the market, with the cheapest costing below 1,000 yuan.

Another operator China Telecom also says it has purchased 4 million 3G phones from over 30 phone makers, a move that's likely to bring prices down.

He Yuzi, Product Manager of Beijing Telecom said "After the National Day holiday, we will offer a big batch of 3G phones at around 1,000 yuan."

But China's largest mobile operator, which is also the world's number one, China Mobile, has yet to announce a schedule for the official launch of its 3G services.