Illegal Satellite Dishes Cheaper Than Legal in China

Itxinwen.com, 11/18/11

Wu Chunyong, chief editor of broadcast industry news site Dwrh.net, said today most "shanzhai woks" (a term for illegal satellite dishes) cost between RMB 100 and 300, while legal direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) TV receivers cost approximately RMB 550. The difference in pricing has led provincial governments in Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, and Hebei to offer subsidies for the set-top boxes (STBs), with provincial financial authorities, broadcast authorities, and telecom operators each contributing more than RMB 100 per box, bringing the total cost to subscribers down to around RMB 200.

Though sales of unlicensed satellite reception equipment have fallen, there are still tens of millions of devices on the market. Wu estimated an underground market with more than 100 mln customers.

Keywords: law regulation market size national statistics pricing shanzhai television DBS Wu Chunyong subsidy satellite dish set-top box

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