As we reported yesterday, rumour has it that China’s smallest of the countries three operators, China Telecom could be offering the Apple iPhone by the end of this year, and apparently the news has prompted investment companies to take a look at possible revenue figures the China Telecom and Apple deal could deliver.

According to the guys over on Apple Insider, it looks like Apple could pull in big bucks by delivering the iOS smartphone to China Telecom’s 105.7 million subscribers, revenue to the tune of a nice cool 9 billion bucks according to one analyst.

Bryan White, an analyst for Ticonderoga Secirities, in a note to investors wrote…”We are believers,” which apparently referred to the rumour that China Telecom will release the iPhone in November this year.

Apparently the analyst conservatively estimates high-end subscribers with China Telecom to be 13 to 15 million, a subscriber base that could represent a “near-term revenue opportunity of $8-9 billion,” and let’s face it $8-9 billion is a figure not to be sniped at.

But apparently if you take a broader view then the iPhone deal with China Telecom could potentially be even bigger if you count all of China Telecom’s 3G users of 19.7 million as possible iPhone users the market opportunity could be$12 billion, and if you take it further and say all of China Telecom’s users were to switch to the iPhone Apple could stand to get as much as an estimated $66 billion.

Obviously that is taking the figure to their extremes but the potential is there. Currently China Unicom exclusively offers the iPhone in China, with the possibility of China Telecom coming aboard in November, and if the rumour of China Mobile gaining the iPhone 5 turns out to be spot on then Apple’s coffers are sure going to swell even more that it is now.

Purchasing the iPhone from China Unicom back in 2009 was slow in the country; however popularity of the iOS device grew last year and when the iPhone 4 released in September it drew so much demand that the handset was sold out for several months.

So it does seem there is a large call for the iPhone in the country and if said rumours pan out to be true, adding both China Telecom and China Mobile to the Apple ranks can only mean good financial business for Apple.