Following its competitor China Mobile (CHL), China Unicom (CHU) has announced the launch of its own mobile phone advertisement service.

Tong Xiaoyu, general manager of China Unicom's Value-Added Service Department, says that his company's mobile phone ads service will be realized through four channels including WAP, SMS, IVR and embedded services.

China Unicom has authorized its wholly owned company Liantong Xinshixun Communications Company to be responsible for the operation of the mobile ads service. The company has also set up a special advertising company to deal with the service.

China Unicom currently has 130 million mobile phone users. With the upgrading of its CDMA and GSM network in more than 100 cities across the country, the mobile phone ad service is expected to be better supported.