"Implementation of 'going digital and being networked' is our top priority this year," said Zhang Haitao, deputy director of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT).

"We must sign up 30 million digital cable TV subscribers by 2005 as planned.

That is a fairly ambitious goal for the ministry. Currently, there are 200,000 digital cable TV subscribers in China.

The ministry aims to sign up 1 million users this year, said Guo Yansheng, director-general of SARFT's Department of Science and Technology.

The ministry has vowed to basically complete by 2005 the digitalization of the national cable TV network.

The three-year target is rather high, Zhang said, but suggested it can be realized with successive roll-outs of digital TV services.

Development of China's broadcasting industry must be enhanced to ensure the nation begins to catch up with developed countries, he said.

Twenty-two of China's provinces and municipalities have begun building the infrastructure for digital cable TV networks, indicates a document containing Zhang and Guo's remarks at a recent meeting.

Eighty-four cities have built up trial digital cable TV networks, Guo said.

China has about 100 million cable subscribers, and household penetration is increasing.

The ministry will set the ground transmission standard no later than year's end, Guo said. That is viewed as the crux for digital TV development.

Digitalization of the cable TV network will create a market worth 100 billion yuan (US$12 billion) for set-top box providers, Zhang said.

The "going digital" strategy is expected to help China's broadcasting operators break into the lucrative telecoms service market.

With digital cable TV networks, operators will be able to offer some telecoms-like services, broadband access and interactive TV services.

"With the increasing convergence of the IT (information technology) and broadcasting industries, cable TV operators should expand their services," Zhang said.

Industry experts have expected telecoms and cable networks will converge in the future.

(Business Weekly February 19, 2003)