Internet speed faster than current broadband, a slightly higher price, video on demand and TV serials without advertisements -- all these will be in most Shanghai households within the next four years.
It is not a far-fetched dream, if the government-backed Shanghai Engineering Research Center for Broadband Technologies & Application (B-STAR) has anything to do with it.
B-STAR launched a trail operation in some districts in the city, and thanks to cooperation with Shanghai Telecom and Shanghai Media Group, the download speed of the new service is 46 megabits (46,000 kilobits) a second, compared with the current 50 to 200 kilobits (based on different network conditions and simultaneous user base).
The "3Tnet" service is mainly designed for video services.
"Our city-level server capacity is calculated on trillion bits but the traditional capacity is on gigabits (1 billion bits)," said York Li, B-STAR's chairman, as he explained to Shanghai Daily on how the name came about.
3Tnet's technology
The advantage of B-STAR's technology is due to its city-level server and district-level router. The servers and routers are designed for simplicity and flattened architecture, which greatly improve the speed.
The 3Tnet network is connected via fiber optic lines, not copper lines in the traditional network Shanghai Telecom operates.
The biggest difference is that 3Tnet provides users with a fixed download speed but ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) lets users share the limited capacity (speed slows down during peak hours).
"The network is totally open to operators. They can operate various services, such as 24-hour high-definition golf programs and remote medical services to cash in," Li added.
Cost and price
The network, of course, needs a lot of investment. With a grant of 300 million yuan (US$37 million) from the central government and 100 million yuan (US$12.5 million) from the city government, B-STAR will gradually expand the super-speed Internet access to 6 million households by 2010, according to Li.
Currently, the project is being tried out in Gubei in Changning District and involves about 17,000 households.
Li said the government is planning to upgrade the current data network through either the telephone or cable TV, which means no new cables (at family terminal) need to be installed.
Price, which most people are concerned about, will be reasonable, Li said. He hopes that each family will pay 200 yuan (US$25) a month, including Internet access fee and charges for services like video-on-demand and paid TV programs.
At present, Shanghai Telecom charges ADSL users 120 to 150 yuan a month and 10 to 20 yuan for each Internet-based service, from music to film download. But its limited Internet speed influences the performance on the computer.
Content
"We won't cross the line that we shouldn't do. That means we won't provide illegal content on the net," Li said.
That means local people can't watch CNN or US-based ABC, for example, via the new network unless they are allowed to broadcast freely in the Chinese mainland.
"Instead, we will invite overseas players to invest in the service providers to give users more competitive services. We will also rearrange the current resources to launch customized services, like golf, to target special groups."
One of the most practical applications of the super-fast connection will be access to medical consultation with 100 doctors at Huashan Hospital. The service will begin trial operation this summer.
People who only need services like e-mail and search can continue using the current Internet access services.
"In future, more than 90 percent of online traffic will come from demand for video services," Li said.
(Shanghai Daily April 17, 2006)
