China to Add 35 Mln FTTH Households in 2013
Sina Tech, 2/26/13
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) convened a meeting today to finalize the objectives of the 2013 Broadband China project. The objectives include increasing fiber to the home (FTTH) coverage by more than 35 mln households; adding 180,000 3G base stations and 1.3 mln WLAN access points; increasing fixed line broadband coverage by 25 mln households; and increasing the 3G user base by 100 mln. The objectives also include adding broadband access to 180,000 villages and providing 4M or higher broadband access coverage to over 70% of all broadband users.
In 2012, FTTH coverage nationwide increased by more than 49 mln households to reach 94 mln households. Fixed-line broadband coverage increased by 25.10 mln households to reach 175 mln households. Broadband users with access speeds of 4M or above increased by 23% to reach over 63%. In 2012, the average cost of broadband access fell by more than 30% YoY. Furthermore, over 2 mln WLAN access points were added during the year, reaching a total of 5.24 mln throughout the country.
MIIT minister Miao Wei stated that the Broadband China Plan, drafted by the MIIT, National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and other Chinese government ministries, is currently in the process of being submitted to the State Council. Furthermore, Miao stated, another document outlining suggestions for the implementation of Broadband China in 2013 will be distributed soon.
Editor's Note: For more background on this topic, please see "Government Subsidies Missing from Broadband China Plan" MD 2/06/13 issue.
Keywords: mobile subscribers government policy Miao Wei broadband telecom WLAN MIIT State Council 3G broadband access FTTH NDRC Broadband China government subsidy fiber optics base station broadband subscribers connection speed wireless networking network construction mobile network equipment