China Mobile, the country’s dominant wireless carrier, is planning on launching a Android-based 3G mobile phone in the first quarter, reports Reuters, citing a source “with direct knowledge of the issue.” The device, named the “OPhone,” is being built by Chinese mobile device maker Lenovo Mobile, and will be the first Android phone to run on the Chinese-created TD-SCDMA 3G network. Not much else is known about the phone, though the South China Morning Post reported that the device was experiencing delays as developers struggled to create a Chinese language version of the operating system.

On Wednesday, China handed out its long-awaited 3G licenses, with China Mobile, which has a 72 percent share of the market, being saddled with TD-SCDMA, the homegrown standard which has proved buggy in testing and trials. A decent handset wouldn’t be a bad thing for China Mobile, and there’s anecdotal evidence from sales of grey market G1’s in China that an Android based handset could be popular. Illegal G1s were being sold at a lofty 3,999 remminbi ($584) in Bejing’s Zhongguancun, its consumer electronics shopping area, plus another 500 remminbi ($73) to unlock the phone. China Mobile’s 3G services will be up against those of China Unicom running on Europe’s WCDMA standard, and China Telecom using North America’s CDMA 2000 standard. Both technologies have a wider range of handsets available to them. Meanwhile, no word on when the iPhone might launch in China.

• China Issues Long-Awaited 3G Licenses
• Illegal G1’s “Pouring” Into China