(Yicai Global) Oct. 29 -- China's three major telecom operators will start selling fifth-generation wireless network data plans on Nov. 1, almost five months after the government gave the go-ahead, according to an insider. 

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as well as China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom, will have a joint product launch event on Oct. 31, one day after which sales will begin, a person who wished to remain anonymous told Yicai Global. Regional communications authorities will also hold such ceremonies with local operator branches. 

On June 6, the ministry issued related licenses to the three operators, as well as China Broadcasting Network. In September, the three telecoms firms started pre-sales of 5G plans laced with discounts but without price tags. The combined number of pre-subscribers has exceeded 10 million.

Some pre-subscribers may not buy the plan as prices could be expensive considering how much money operators have put into getting started with 5G, resulting in high pressure regarding profitability, according to telecoms analyst Fu Liang.

Editor: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine