China's TV regulator the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT) has required that all cable TV operators provide at least six channels of analog programs for the public when they digitize their services.

China is promoting digital cable TV in urban areas and 25 cities, including Qingdao, Hangzhou, Dalian, Shenzhen, Taiyuan, Nanjing, and Nanning, have switched from analog cable TV to digital cable TV. Throughout the country digital cable TV subscribers have surpassed 12 million, according to SARFT.

Recently, some cable TV users have complained that local cable TV operators had closed all the analog cable TV and that the charges for digital cable TV programs and the set-top box used to receive the digital cable TV signals are too high.

In response to the complaints, the SARFT decided that all cable TV operators must have at least six analog channels available for users to choose, and the charges for digital TV must be cut for low-income families.

China plans to replace the existing analog cable television with digital cable television in all the cities in its eastern and central regions and most of those in the western area by 2010, according to a national five-year (2006-10) guideline on cultural development publicized on September 13, 2006.

(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2007)