China Publishes List Of Pilot Cities For Convergence Of Three Networks

The General Office of the State Council of China has published the list of the first batch of pilot regions and cities for the convergence of three networks, including the telecom network, the Internet network, and the broadcasting network.

Twelve cities and region are included in the list: Beijing; Dalian in Liaoning province; Harbin in Heilongjiang province; Shanghai; Nanjing in Jiangsu province; Hangzhou in Zhejiang province; Xiamen in Fujian province; Qingdao in Shandong province; Wuhan in Hubei province; the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan region in Hunan province; Shenzhen in Guangdong province; and Mianyang in Sichuan province.

The pilot cities and region mainly meet three conditions: first, their networks can meet the two-way access integration requirement; second, they represent the economic population and user habits in specific regions; and third, they have a market structure with a certain scale.

At present, the local governments of related cities and region are reportedly discussing the implementation of the convergence of three networks and the supporting policies will be launched soon. In addition, more cities and regions are expected to be included in this program in 2011. The convergence of three networks will stimulate investments and consumptions of about CNY700 billion in the next three years.