Net, TV, cells to merge
By Zhu Shenshen |
July 2, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Chinese TV, Internet and mobile phone users might soon be able to use a single gadget for all the things they now do on separate pieces of hardware.
The government yesterday announced a pilot plan to integrate the three systems in Shanghai and 11 other cites and regions.
It means that in the future, people will be able to use a mobile phone to watch TV and surf the Internet, use a TV to phone other people, and use computers with online tools to phone others and watch TV, said Zeng Jianqiu, a professor at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications.
No schedule was given for the development of the trial program.
The State Council has chosen the 12 cities and regions as the first to start "Three Network Convergence" testing, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a statement on its website.
The announcement represents the official start of a convergence that has been debate and tested for more than a decade since the policy was first proposed in 1998.
Cross-platform
The convergence will permit telecom and broadcasting industries to enter each other's areas, creating more cross-platform services like Internet Protocol TV, mobile TV and online broadcasting organizations on one unified and connected network.
Besides greatly changing people's habits in how they obtain information, the convergence promises to boost the telecommunications and media industries, the industry regulator said.
The General Administration of Press and Publication will regulate content and distribution of IPTV and mobile TV, according to Wang Xiaojie, general director of the administration's science and technology division.
"The TV set (300 million in China) is the most popular and affordable device for new integrated services, compared with computers," said Wang. "The biggest bottleneck of the current TV network is single-way transition but it will change through the network upgrade in the pilot cities."
Shanghai leads
Shanghai Media Group, the city's No. 1 media conglomerate, said it will develop mobile TV, IPTV and video on demand services during the testing, according to Zhang Dazhong, vice president of the media group.
Shanghai has led the network convergence nationwide so far. The city had more than 1 million IPTV users by 2009, the most in China. Meanwhile, China Mobile has launched mobile TV services in the city.
Economically speaking, the convergence will boost the demand of network upgrades, bringing opportunities for chip, optical cable and network equipment makers, according to Goldman Sachs.
The government yesterday announced a pilot plan to integrate the three systems in Shanghai and 11 other cites and regions.
It means that in the future, people will be able to use a mobile phone to watch TV and surf the Internet, use a TV to phone other people, and use computers with online tools to phone others and watch TV, said Zeng Jianqiu, a professor at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications.
No schedule was given for the development of the trial program.
The State Council has chosen the 12 cities and regions as the first to start "Three Network Convergence" testing, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in a statement on its website.
The announcement represents the official start of a convergence that has been debate and tested for more than a decade since the policy was first proposed in 1998.
Cross-platform
The convergence will permit telecom and broadcasting industries to enter each other's areas, creating more cross-platform services like Internet Protocol TV, mobile TV and online broadcasting organizations on one unified and connected network.
Besides greatly changing people's habits in how they obtain information, the convergence promises to boost the telecommunications and media industries, the industry regulator said.
The General Administration of Press and Publication will regulate content and distribution of IPTV and mobile TV, according to Wang Xiaojie, general director of the administration's science and technology division.
"The TV set (300 million in China) is the most popular and affordable device for new integrated services, compared with computers," said Wang. "The biggest bottleneck of the current TV network is single-way transition but it will change through the network upgrade in the pilot cities."
Shanghai leads
Shanghai Media Group, the city's No. 1 media conglomerate, said it will develop mobile TV, IPTV and video on demand services during the testing, according to Zhang Dazhong, vice president of the media group.
Shanghai has led the network convergence nationwide so far. The city had more than 1 million IPTV users by 2009, the most in China. Meanwhile, China Mobile has launched mobile TV services in the city.
Economically speaking, the convergence will boost the demand of network upgrades, bringing opportunities for chip, optical cable and network equipment makers, according to Goldman Sachs.
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