China Mobile Beijing's branch has formally started providing nano-SIM cards for iPhone 5 users in its 33 business halls.

Users can take their iPhone 5 smartphones and former SIM cards to these business halls and change for new nano-SIM cards for free. For those who are not China Mobile users, they can directly apply for network registration with nano-SIM cards by providing their iPhone 5 smartphones and valid identity documents.

A representative from China Mobile said that the first batch of 33 business halls which provide the nano-SIM cards cover the entire Beijing city, including all urban districts, five suburban districts, major business areas, and other key regions. Apart from the business halls, China Mobile provides nano-SIM card service at the VIP halls at T2 and T3 terminals in Beijing Capital International Airport.

Meanwhile, China Unicom also announced via its official microblog that its 28 business halls in Beijing have started providing the card exchange service to users. However, rival China Telecom has not released any new information about nano-SIM cards.

The first batch of iPhone 5 smartphones was launched in nine countries and regions, including Hong Kong, on September 21, 2012. To meet customers' demand to use the new iPhone and to compete for customers, the three Chinese major telecom operators all announced plans to introduce the nano-SIM cards even though the phones are not officially available in mainland China yet.