China Telecom (0728.HK) announced it will start sales of the iPhone 4s on March 9, and will begin accepting online orders from March 2, reports sina.com.

Customers will be able to get the 16G and 32G versions of the iPhone 4s free of charge if they sign up for two-year plans costing 389 yuan and 489 yuan per month, respectively.

Under the three-year plans, users will be able to get the 16G and 32G versions of the iPhone 4s if they commit to minimum payments of 289 yuan and 389 yuan.

A China Telecom employee said the company will unveil more plans to the public before March 2.

According to China Telecom, the launch of the iPhone 4s will result in higher marketing expenses, and short-term profitability is expected to come under pressure.

However, the introduction of the iPhone 4s will benefit the company's long-term growth, added China Telecom.