Here are your Apple rumors and news items for Wednesday:

Big China, Little iPhone: China Unicom (NYSE:CHU) will no longer be the sole iPhone carrier in China come November. Reuters is saying that China Telecom (NYSE:CHA) will begin carrying Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) popular smartphone that month, bringing 106 million potential new customers. China Telecom’s stock rose almost 5% following the announcement. It’s unclear what model Apple will offer through China Telecom during the fourth quarter – specifically, whether it will be an existing model of the much-rumored fifth generation iPhone is expected to release in the U.S. this September. Competitor China Mobile (NYSE:CHL) is also expected to carry the iPhone later this year.

4G What?: Sprint (NYSE:S), AT&T (NYSE:T), and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) have made “4G” a brand unto itself, coating all advertising campaigns for their respective mobile services and products with the term for over a year now. The term, which means fourth generation, refers to the still-expanding LTE (AT&T, Verizon) and HSPA+ (Sprint) networks that offer higher data transfer speeds for specific smartphones and tablets, compared to 3G networks. Many consumers, meanwhile, have no idea what “4G” actually is.  Mac Rumors published a survey by research group Retrevo that showed that 34% of iPhone users believe that their phones are 4G devices. Retrevo speculates that part of the confusion is caused by the iPhone 4 name given to the current smartphone model, but the core problem seems to be that consumers just don’t know what 4G is. Competing telecoms would do well to reconsider their branding if they want to encourage further adoption of higher-end smartphones.

As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here. Follow him on Twitter at @ajohnagnello and become a fan of InvestorPlace on Facebook.