Most news about the iPhone in the U.S. is centered around the major national carriers including those that offer the iPhone (AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint) and T-Mobile, which doesn’t.

Today, however, that news focuses on Virginia-based carrier nTelos, which will become the second smaller carrier in the U.S. to offer the iPhone. Seeking to differentiate its iPhone options from the larger carriers, nTelos is also offering some sweet deals on the purchase of an iPhone 4/4S as well as a bargain price for unlimited data.

Having obtained the licenses necessary to launch its new iPhone 4S on the China Telecom network earlier this month, it was only a matter of time before Apple’s deal with a second Chinese carrier came to fruition. China Telecom subsidiary Beijing Telecom has now issued a press release confirming that it will launch the iPhone 4S from as early as the end of February.

Did you know that your iPhone’s serial number says a lot about your device? It isn’t just a random string of digits. It reveals the factory in which your device was built, the year it was manufactured, its unique identifier, and more. Here’s how to decode your iPhone’s serial number.

Apple’s iPhone looks set to make its debut on China Telecom after the Cupertino company was granted a vital network access license needed to launch the device. The license is believed to be one of the final hurdles to overcome before the iPhone arrives with China’s third-largest mobile carrier.

The Wall Street Journal reports Apple may have developed a modified version of its iPhone compatible with China Telecom’s “CDMA-2000” network. The device is set to make its debut in China this Friday, but as things currently stand, it’s to be exclusive to China Unicom.

There’s a reason Sprint has stopped selling SIM unlocked versions of the iPhone 4S today, and it’s not just because of the pleasing parallel symmetry of the digits in the date 11/11/11. It’s because today is also the day that Apple has started selling unlocked, contract-free iPhone 4Ses to customers willing to pay a premium.

While Sprint’s initial batch of iPhone 4S handsets were sold unlocked, allowing you to swap out your Sprint SIM card for a SIM card of your choice, that will no longer be the case. From today, November 11, Sprint will be SIM locking Apple’s latest iPhone.

Despite losing its exclusivity to the iPhone back in February when Apple introduced the CDMA iPhone 4 for Verizon, AT&T is still the most dominant iPhone carrier in the United States, enjoying 60% of iPhone 4 subscribers.

Wow, big news! The iPhone 4S is officially coming to a fourth American network in the coming weeks!

Bad news for the millions of T-Mobile customers using their jailbroken iPhones on the fourth-largest American wireless network, though: the iPhone 4S is coming to a network you’ve probably never heard of.

If you’re buying your new CDMA iPhone 4S through Sprint, then you’ll be pleased to know that the device will come unlocked — allowing you to stick in any SIM and use the device on any network. If you’ve ordered a Verizon device, however, it will come locked to Verizon, but you can request to have it unlocked after 60 days.