China may be in a position to overtake both Europe and the U.S. in consumer entertainment by adopting IPTV in the future. China’s telecoms companies and broadcasters are gearing up to tap into IPTV, a potentially lucrative business. China now has about 100 million cable TV subscribers and nearly 23 million broadband Internet users. Nationally, the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television (“SARFT”) says there were 2.19 million IPTV subscribers in 2004, up from approximately 10,000 in 2000. Du Baiochuan, a SARFT (State Administration of Radio, Film and Television) official, is quoted as saying he expects IPTV subscribers to reach 20 million in 2008. Other forecasts vary. Analysis International, a leading technology advisor in the Asia-Pacific Region, projects that the number will reach 16.65 million by 2007 ("Number of China's IPTV Subscribers Expected to Reach 1.17mn", 2005). IDC forecasts the number of IPTV subscribers will exceed 8 million in 2008. Informa Telecoms and Media, a globally well-known market research company, predicts that the number will reach 4.9 million by 2010, where the U.S. will take second place with 3.9 million subscribers. On the downside, Norson Telecom Consulting predicts only 1.2 million subscribers by 2009, citing regulatory obstacles. IPTV services in China are expected to be a US$12.5 billion market by 2008.
Due to ambiguous government policy, both telecommunications operators and other non-TV media companies rushed into the IPTV market in 2004. China Netcom, the country’s fourth largest telecoms carrier, edged into the Internet protocol television sector by establishing three IPTV stations over the past half-year. The latest TV station of this kind is www.bjiptv.com.cn, launched by Beijing People’s Broadcasting Corporation (BPBC) on December 24, 2003. The BPBC’s TV Web site started trial operations on December 24th simultaneously in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei Province and Heilogonjiang Province. In addition, Netcom has joined hands with the International Data Group and China Central Television to enter the Internet TV business. Netcom poured RMB 500 million into a broadband Internet venture, Tiantian Online (http://www.116.com.cn). Netcom is the largest shareholder in the venture with a 40% stake. The company is also a strategic partner of www.chinasee.net, an Internet TV site opened by the dominant state TV agency CCTV this June.
Now chinasee.net operates in Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu Province, with 22,000 paid users registered. CCTV has said it expects to recruit 600,000 IPTV subscribers this year. China Telecom is said to have plans to launch large-scale promotions of IPTV in most cities in the country this year, following the launch of the Internet TV service in Shanghai last August, also in cooperation with a subsidiary of China’s Central Television (CCTV). Many entities other than telecommunications carriers have an interest in IPTV. There are limited channels for both television and radio, whereas the space for Internet television is endless. Unlike television stations, china does not need big television cameras: a family use digital camcorder will work. Production costs are vital for a country playing leapfrog with western technologies by going straight from radio to IPTV. It is cheaper to use China’s mushrooming number of Internet connections than it is to build cable TV networks.
Due to ambiguous government policy, both telecommunications operators and other non-TV media companies rushed into the IPTV market in 2004. China Netcom, the country’s fourth largest telecoms carrier, edged into the Internet protocol television sector by establishing three IPTV stations over the past half-year. The latest TV station of this kind is www.bjiptv.com.cn, launched by Beijing People’s Broadcasting Corporation (BPBC) on December 24, 2003. The BPBC’s TV Web site started trial operations on December 24th simultaneously in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei Province and Heilogonjiang Province. In addition, Netcom has joined hands with the International Data Group and China Central Television to enter the Internet TV business. Netcom poured RMB 500 million into a broadband Internet venture, Tiantian Online (http://www.116.com.cn). Netcom is the largest shareholder in the venture with a 40% stake. The company is also a strategic partner of www.chinasee.net, an Internet TV site opened by the dominant state TV agency CCTV this June.
Now chinasee.net operates in Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu Province, with 22,000 paid users registered. CCTV has said it expects to recruit 600,000 IPTV subscribers this year. China Telecom is said to have plans to launch large-scale promotions of IPTV in most cities in the country this year, following the launch of the Internet TV service in Shanghai last August, also in cooperation with a subsidiary of China’s Central Television (CCTV). Many entities other than telecommunications carriers have an interest in IPTV. There are limited channels for both television and radio, whereas the space for Internet television is endless. Unlike television stations, china does not need big television cameras: a family use digital camcorder will work. Production costs are vital for a country playing leapfrog with western technologies by going straight from radio to IPTV. It is cheaper to use China’s mushrooming number of Internet connections than it is to build cable TV networks.
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