Every household in Beijing will have access to high-speed internet by 2008 as part of the network development for the Olympiad, as a new report by Point Topic reveals. The Games, to be held in the capital city of China, are driving a major broadband expansion programme by telco China Netcom, appointed to be the exclusive fixed-line service provider for the 2008 Olympiad. China Netcom is responsible for providing fixed-line, broadband and network infrastructure for 35 Olympic venues (32 of them in Beijing), as well as HDTV broadcast for the Games. Earlier this year, Netcom conducted a HDTV trial over a submarine cable as part of the scheduled network development for the event. Its partner BOB (Beijing Olympic Broadcast) predicts that 4 to 6bn people will be watching the broadcasting during the Olympics.

By June 2006, the operator had 85,800 IPTV subscribers, an increase of 48.1% from Q1. China is expected to become the world's largest IPTV subscriber market by 2008, with various reports estimating a number between 5 and 12mn customers.

The total number of broadband subscribers in the country reached 48.5mn in September, with DSL lines accounted for 71% of all active broadband lines. As of Sep 2006, the overall broadband penetration rate stood at 3.7% - an increased of 1% compared to September 2005.

Another area benefiting from the investments for the Olympiad is mobile telephony. China Mobile, one of the largest operators in the country, is the official mobile communication service provider for the Games. It will supply 3G high-speed data service to support high-definition audio and video broadcast over mobile phones during the event.

“The long awaiting 3G TD-SCDMA is finally taking off in China after a successful field trial carried out in five provinces in July", points out Point Topic's analyst Vince Chook. "The home-grown TD-SCDMA technology, built directly on a development of GSM, is certainly gaining ground. And it's making an impact on the global 3G market, due to its relatively low cost in upgrading from existing GSM infrastructures", he says.
www.point-topic.com