China Unicom Adds Five Convergence Trial Cities
Lmtw, 9/03/10
An industry source has revealed that in order to further explore development models for network convergence, China Unicom (NYSE: CHU; 0762.HK; 600050.SH) has decided to expand its trials from the original four state-selected cities (Beijing, Qingdao, Dalian, and Harbin) to the additional five provinces and municipalities of Tianjin, Hebei, Sichuan, Hubei, and Zhejiang.
Unicom convened a meeting in Beijing of subsidiary companies from areas currently testing triple play networks along with technology and service providers to share their expertise, draft relevant standards, and make preparations for future equipment procurement tenders.
By October, all four of the Unicom subsidiaries operating trial networks in state-selected cities will complete construction of IPTV service infrastructure platforms capable of supporting an initial 50,000 to 100,000 subscribers, and will begin providing services. Broadband speed increases, with a focus on upgrading all coverage to 4 Mbps (and to 20 Mbps in core areas of Beijing), will also be completed.
Keywords: China Unicom convergence IPTV procurement television 0762.HK 600050.SH CHU standard users