New SARFT Chief Pushes National Cable Group

BEIJING --- Freshly appointed State Administration of Radio Film and TV (SARFT) Director Xu Guangchun (see CMM passim) has revealed his decision to push ahead with the establishment of a new cable group to bring together cable TV stations by the end of this year (see CMM passim).

Xu said the group would be engaged in national cable TV broadcasting and the Internet and that the move was in preparation for the country’s pending entry into the World Trade Organisation. He said the proposals had been drafted to help sharpen the competitiveness of the cable broadcasting industry.

Meanwhile, Zhu Zhentie, an official at the important SARFT Social Affairs Administration told the official Chinese press that, “we are also preparing for the convergence of the broadcasting network, the telecom network and the computer network.” SARFT says China has the largest cable broadcasting network in the world with 77 million cable homes and 3 million kilometres of hard wire cable.

SARFT Deputy Director Zhang Haitao, who told a recent symposium that S&T developments have increased the integration, penetration and competition between various media, while the growth of the Internet has changed transmission methods, backed this view. Zhang said he hoped a national radio and TV transmission network will help quell the competition.

The new group will be called the China Radio and Cable Network Group and will hold assets built up by the China Radio and TV Co. established by SARFT Information Network Center three years ago with a registered capital of RMB50 million.
 
The new Group is expected to consist of two divisions, network and media company. Currently, SARFT has more than 20,000 kilometres of trunk cables across the country. After adding the provincial networks with an average of over 3,000 km of cable per network, the total length of China Radio and Cable Network Group's cable network will exceed 100,000 km.

However, not all cable TV stations are expected to agree to the terms of the merger, so SARFT is also preparing to introduce a package of major reforms for the 10th Five - Year Plan (2001-05). These reforms will provide an opportunity for mutual penetration by China's film and TV industry and its telecom industry. Given the lack of complete regulations for China's radio, film and TV industry, SARFT also plans to enact the Radio and TV Law and the Film Law during the period of the 10th Five-Year Plan.
 
Meanwhile, a report carried in the Beijing Economic Daily has suggested that foreign investors may be allowed to have 32% ownership of domestic cable TV networks as SARFT admits its goal cannot be achieved without substantial financial and technical support. The newspaper said the authorities would likely allow foreign investment in the first phase of developing national and provincial networks.