China to form 10 bln yuan national cable group to compete with telco industry

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) - China is to merge the country's wireless, cable and satellite broadcasting services into a 10 bln yuan state-owned national communications conglomerate by the end of the year, to exploit the country's vast cable network and compete with the telecommunications industry, the China Daily quoted Zhang Haitao, vice-director of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) as saying. 	    He said the country's 3 mln kilometre cable network, which goes into 80 mln Chinese homes, can reach far more people than the telecoms network.	    Cable has a much broader bandwidth and could provide integrated services such as internet access, video-on-demand and interactive shopping. 	    The new company will bring local TV, cable and radio broadcasting stations into one conglomerate with the aim of speeding up the development of the cable and satellite industry, which is lagging far behind the telecoms industry, Zhang said. 	    SARFT will transform the one-way cable broadcasting network into two-way communications networks which will enable subscribers not only to receive TV programmes, but also send information back and order products and services.	    SARFT will hold a controlling stake of at least 51 pct in the company, which will have branches in every province, autonomous region and municipality, and other state-owned enterprises will also be able to hold shares. 	    However, private and foreign enterprises will not be allowed to invest. 	    Zhang accused the sector of wasting much of its valuable network time and relying too much on advertising and said its network should be better used 

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