State firm for network convergence

China will establish a state-level TV broadcasting and network firm to issue the "Three  Network Convergence" policy to better integrate broadcasting, telecommunications and Internet networks and launch cross-platform new services, the industry regulator said at the 16th Shanghai TV Festival.

According to the latest "Three Network Convergence" plan, the GAPP (general administration of Press and Publication) will establish a national NGB (next-generation broadcasting) network and start the trial services in some chosen cities, according to Wang Xiaojie, general director of science & technology division of GAPP.

"The TV set is the most popular and affordable device for new integrated services, compared with computers," said Wang during the Convergence of Three Networks-An Innovation Road forum yesterday. "The biggest bottleneck of the current TV network is single-way transition but it will change on the NGB network."

The government will support the new firm establishment and network construction with funds and policies, according to Wang.

Integrated services, like mobile TV, IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) and VOD (video on demand) will become more popular in China with more than 300 million TV users, according Zhang Dazhong, vice president of SMG.

Regional firms can apply to attend the "Three Network Convergence" test by June 18 and the regulator will decide final trial cities by June 25, GAPP\'s  Wang added.
China is going to test "Three Network Convergence" from 2010 to 2012 and start to adopt the services from 2013 to 2015, according to a policy released at the beginning of this year.

But the detailed plans of the policy were not been decided until Monday night because both broadcasting firms and telecommunications firms aim to lead the network integration. The two regulators, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and GAPP, have conflicting opinions on regulation.

"It (Three Network Convergence) has problems, not on technology but on regulation," said Wu Hequan, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

GAPP seems to have won the war for now.

The new national broadcasting firm will manage and regulate the integrated platform, such as IPTV and mobile TV. Telecommunications firms are only allowed to distribute the content through networks and cooperate with broadcasting firms on mobile-end and payment sectors, Wang said.

China\'s media market is huge based on the huge paid TV users (one-third of global level) and mobile users (the world\'s No. 1), according to Richard Ji, media analyst at Morgan Stanley.

"Network convergence will help Chinese media firms improve profitability through unified channels, more content and strong branding," said Ji.