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China Netcom Said to Launch IPTV
(Comtex Business Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)BEIJING, Mar 30, 2006 (SinoCast China IT Watch via COMTEX) --China Netcom, the largest fixed-line telecom carrier of the country, will debut IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) on May 17, the World Telecommunication Day, according to sources.
Beijing arm of China Netcom concluded the IPTV bidding on March 22, and ZTE Corporation, the leading telecom equipment manufacturer in China, won an order of installing IPTV for 50,000 subscribers in Beijing. Additionally, another IPTV license will be possibly granted to CCTV, China's central TV station. All of these seem to indicate the oncoming big development of IPTV in China.
There is a prerequisite for China Netcom to promote IPTV business in a big way, namely the procurement of an IPTV license. Therefore, it either obtains a license by itself, or joins hands with a content provider possessing an IPTV license. However, no sign indicates that China's State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television will issue IPTV licenses to telecom carriers.
Nevertheless, insiders disclose that it is CCTV who will obtain an IPTV license, and CCTV is ready to carry out IPTV business.
It had been much rumored that CCTV would acquire an IPTV license since last year. However, due to some internal reasons of CCTV, the first IPTV was granted to Shanghai Media Group (SMG for short) eventually.
But CCTV has never given up its effort. A source revealed that CCTV had already procured an IPTV license now, with the news unannounced. At present, it is carrying out internal integration, and a branch will be designated to specialize in IPTV business. Therefore, some insiders predicate that China Netcom will possibly cooperate with CCTV in promoting IPTV.
SMG has spared no efforts in expanding new media in the past three years, walking ahead of other counterparts in IPTV, paid digital TV, mobile phone TV, and network wide screen etc. So CCTV has already lagged behind SMG in new media, and it is necessary for it to make more investment into the industry to catch up with SMG.
SMG has already signed a contract with China Telecom, the country's biggest fixed-line telecom carrier, according to which they will popularize the commercial use of IPTV in over 20 cities in China besides Shanghai. In addition, it has also started the commercial use of IPTV for trial in Harbin with China Netcom, with the number of subscribers developed so far being 50,000. Therefore, CCTV is compelled to team up with China Netcom to develop IPTV in other cities.
IPTV was once regarded as a new application of Internet. However, after SMG was required to stop IPTV in Quanzhou and Zhejiang, the business was plunged into an embarrassing situation. How to develop IPTV has become a hot topic in the telecom and radio as well as TV industries.
After a long period of discussion, people gradually realize that IPTV is not clearly defined now, and the licenses are issued in terms of the public opinion rather than in terms of the industrial development. For example, the major role of IPTV had been considered offering contents in the past, such as VOD (Video on Demand), but now it is regarded as an interoperable communication platform. So telecom carriers should play the dominant role in the industrial chain although content providers possess IPTV licenses. In terms of this, perhaps it is favorable for China Netcom to launch IPTV currently.
From China Business, Page 1, Wednesday, March 29, 2006
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