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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, November 21, 2001

New Telecom Firm Finishes Nation's Longest Network

China Railway Communications, a new player in the country's telecommunications industry, has built the longest broadband fiber network in China and plans to finish its nationwide backbone by the end of this year.


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China Railcom finishes nation's longest network

China Railway Communications (China Railcom), a new player in the country's telecommunications industry, has built the longest broadband fiber network in China and plans to finish its nationwide backbone by the end of this year.

  • 8,080 kilometers long, 80 gigabits bandwidth
    • The company opened its southwest loop line network Tuesday. The high-speed broadband network is 8,080 kilometers long and of 80 gigabits bandwidth.

  • Five major networks to be updated and restructured
    • China Railcom expects to complete updating and restructuring its five major networks soon by investing US$120 million this year. They are the Beijing-Shanghai-Guangzhou, Southwest, Northwest, Northeast and Southeast loop lines.

  • Concentrate on Internet and video transmission services in addition to traditional phone services
    • Peng Peng, the company's president said the company hopes to profit from concentrating on Internet and video transmission services in addition to traditional phone services.

  • Aim to attract corporate subscribers
    • The company aims to attract corporate subscribers, which have high demands for the transmission of large data and high speed like video conferences.

  • Hope to share a majority of theon-line video conference market
    • It is predicted that the on-line video conference market in China will reach 4.2 billion yuan (500 million U.S. dollars) in 2003, by when China Railcom hopes to grab a majority of the market share.

  • Apply for international access band width
    • The company is also applying for international access band width, believed to be critical for the launch of Internet service.



    China Railcomis the newest member of operators in China. The company was formed in December 2000 with a registered capital of 10.3 billion yuan ($1.24 billion) and 13.6 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) in asset.

    Although the name is new, Railcom had been a carrier for nearly 50 years. It used to be a division of the Ministry of Railways (MOR) providing communications along the train tracks. Because China has an extensive transportation system, Railcom had grown to a sizable company, it operates the second largest fixed communications network (after China Telecom), its services cover 500 cities and 700 counties with more than 1,100 switching centers. In addition, Railcom has 400,000 long-haul lines, trunk lines 120,000 km (fiber optic cable 42,000 km), microwave range 4,590 km. However, most of Railcom service areas are away from business and residential centers.



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