China to Launch a CATV ConglomerateAdministrative authorities told news media a set of rules to canonize China's broadcast/TV network communal operations and management is to be promulgated by the State Council by the end of the year.Following the rules, foreign investment put in the country's broadcast/TV communal network undertakings will be cleared out and in the place of this a new management conglomerate "China Broadcast/TV Network Community Antenna Group" (CATV) will be formed. Still, acting on the rules, CATV network is permitted to go in only for TV program-related deals instead of telecom value-added service. On the new management rules, China's CATV net is to be formed of Platform A and Platform B: A will take on TV program transmission; B, telecom value-added service such as two-way data transmission and voice service. By the management rules of the State Council, Platform B is to be launched only when CATV net takes up telecom value-added service. Platform B may be launched as a joint undertaking open to foreign funds or getting listed in foreign markets abroad. An essential task facing China during the 10th Five-year Plan period is a concerted effort to be made for an integrated countrywide development of telecom, data, and TV communal networks in China. By PD Online staff Huang Ying |
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