Telecom Equipment News
- China set to be broadband leader later this year
Date: 9-Jul-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
CHINA is on pace to pass the United States to become the largest broadband market later this year as video, e-commerce and online gaming fuel demand.
The country added 4.5 million high-speed connections in the first three months of 2007 to 56.3 million, says research firm Point-Topic. The United States ended the first quarter with 60.4 million.
China still lags the United States and many other countries in broadband 'penetration.'Just 4.3 percent of its 1.3 billion people and 14.3 percent of households have speedy Internet connections, says Point-Topic.
In America, 52.7 percent of households have broadband, less than most other rich nations and well below South Korea's 90 percent penetration.
China's broadband growth will boost sales and profits for a wide range of companies trading in the United States, from Chinese portals Sina.com and Sohu.com and Chinese search leader Baidu.com, to U.S. giants Amazon, Yahoo, eBay and Google as well as infrastructure firms.
Shares of Sina, Sohu and Baidu have all done well this year. So have Chinese firms focusing on e-commerce, new media and online gaming. They include Global Sources, Ctrip.com, Shanda Interactive and The9 Ltd.
China's Internet users are flocking to e-commerce and YouTube-like video-sharing Web sites, said Zhang Dongming, research director of consultancy BDA China. Sina and Sohu have created video-sharing services. More than 76 million Chinese Web users watched or uploaded video clips in 2006, said the Internet Society of China.
Online shopping has taken off in the country, analysts said, as small businesses open up e-shops at auctions sites like Taobao.com, a subsidiary of Alibaba.com.
U.S.-based Amazon is paying attention. Amazon says it plans to double its investment in Joyo.com, an online retailer it acquired in 2004.
Google is expanding in China, too. In April, it forged an online advertising pact with China Telecom, a phone company that sells high-speed Web access and hosts Web sites. The deal was Google's third with a Chinese telecom.
EBay, which pulled out of China amid widespread fraud by members, reportedly plans to re-enter the country this year.
The 2008 Olympics in Beijing should rev up broadband adoption, analysts said.
Katja Mueller, an analyst at Point-Topic, said that China's broadband penetration is much higher than India's. The other emerging Asian giant has only 2.3 million broadband users.
BDA China forecasts that China will have 68 million broadband connections by the end of 2007. Another research firm, Ovum, said the number will reach 79 million.
Within households, there are often multiple Internet users.
China's online population rose 23.4 percent in 2006 to 137 million people, said the China Internet Network Information Center. The State agency said more than 90 million Chinese used broadband hook-ups to surf the Web last year; the rest used slower dial-up connections.
Prices for digital subscriber line (DSL) services have been coming down steadily, said BDA's Zhang. Most new Internet users are choosing broadband vs. dial-up, she said.
Chinese broadband users now pay about US$8 monthly, roughly 40 percent lower than in 2003, BDA says.
Falling prices for personal computers has also fueled demand for Internet services, analysts said.
Broadband speeds are still relatively slow in China, analysts said, which could mean a big sales opportunity for network gear makers. (SD-Agencies)
Zhang said most broadband users get speeds under one megabit per second (Mbps). The median U.S. download speed now is 1.97 Mbps, said one recent study.
Many foreign equipment makers eagerly await China's upgrade to faster Internet speeds. China's telecom carriers, though, tend to throw a lot of business to domestic suppliers, such as Huawei and ZTE.
China's phone companies plan to upgrade wires to ADSL2+, which boosts speeds to around 25 Mbps, in densely populated areas of cities like Beijing and Shanghai.
They're also testing higher-speed VDSL, a technology that would let them offer Internet-based TV services. UTStarcom is involved in some IPTV trials with China telecom firms, analysts said.
CHINA is on pace to pass the United States to become the largest broadband market later this year as video, e-commerce and online gaming fuel demand.
The country added 4.5 million high-speed connections in the first three months of 2007 to 56.3 million, says research firm Point-Topic. The United States ended the first quarter with 60.4 million.
China still lags the United States and many other countries in broadband 'penetration.'Just 4.3 percent of its 1.3 billion people and 14.3 percent of households have speedy Internet connections, says Point-Topic.
In America, 52.7 percent of households have broadband, less than most other rich nations and well below South Korea's 90 percent penetration.
China's broadband growth will boost sales and profits for a wide range of companies trading in the United States, from Chinese portals Sina.com and Sohu.com and Chinese search leader Baidu.com, to U.S. giants Amazon, Yahoo, eBay and Google as well as infrastructure firms.
Shares of Sina, Sohu and Baidu have all done well this year. So have Chinese firms focusing on e-commerce, new media and online gaming. They include Global Sources, Ctrip.com, Shanda Interactive and The9 Ltd.
China's Internet users are flocking to e-commerce and YouTube-like video-sharing Web sites, said Zhang Dongming, research director of consultancy BDA China. Sina and Sohu have created video-sharing services. More than 76 million Chinese Web users watched or uploaded video clips in 2006, said the Internet Society of China.
Online shopping has taken off in the country, analysts said, as small businesses open up e-shops at auctions sites like Taobao.com, a subsidiary of Alibaba.com.
U.S.-based Amazon is paying attention. Amazon says it plans to double its investment in Joyo.com, an online retailer it acquired in 2004.
Google is expanding in China, too. In April, it forged an online advertising pact with China Telecom, a phone company that sells high-speed Web access and hosts Web sites. The deal was Google's third with a Chinese telecom.
EBay, which pulled out of China amid widespread fraud by members, reportedly plans to re-enter the country this year.
The 2008 Olympics in Beijing should rev up broadband adoption, analysts said.
Katja Mueller, an analyst at Point-Topic, said that China's broadband penetration is much higher than India's. The other emerging Asian giant has only 2.3 million broadband users.
BDA China forecasts that China will have 68 million broadband connections by the end of 2007. Another research firm, Ovum, said the number will reach 79 million.
Within households, there are often multiple Internet users.
China's online population rose 23.4 percent in 2006 to 137 million people, said the China Internet Network Information Center. The State agency said more than 90 million Chinese used broadband hook-ups to surf the Web last year; the rest used slower dial-up connections.
Prices for digital subscriber line (DSL) services have been coming down steadily, said BDA's Zhang. Most new Internet users are choosing broadband vs. dial-up, she said.
Chinese broadband users now pay about US$8 monthly, roughly 40 percent lower than in 2003, BDA says.
Falling prices for personal computers has also fueled demand for Internet services, analysts said.
Broadband speeds are still relatively slow in China, analysts said, which could mean a big sales opportunity for network gear makers. (SD-Agencies)
Zhang said most broadband users get speeds under one megabit per second (Mbps). The median U.S. download speed now is 1.97 Mbps, said one recent study.
Many foreign equipment makers eagerly await China's upgrade to faster Internet speeds. China's telecom carriers, though, tend to throw a lot of business to domestic suppliers, such as Huawei and ZTE.
China's phone companies plan to upgrade wires to ADSL2+, which boosts speeds to around 25 Mbps, in densely populated areas of cities like Beijing and Shanghai.
They're also testing higher-speed VDSL, a technology that would let them offer Internet-based TV services. UTStarcom is involved in some IPTV trials with China telecom firms, analysts said.
Sponsor Results:
