Indications are that IPTV will become a big development in China: ZTE recently won an IPTV contract from the Beijing arm of China Netcom for 50,000 subscribers and another IPTV license will possibly be granted to CCTV, China's central TV station. There is a prerequisite for China Netcom to promote IPTV by procuring an IPTV license--either by itself, or joining hands with a content provider possessing an IPTV license. However, it appears that China's State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television will not issue IPTV licenses to telecom carriers. Nevertheless, China Business reports rumors that CCTV has obtained an IPTV license and is carrying out internal integration, and that China Netcom may cooperate with CCTV in promoting IPTV. China Netcom will debut IPTV on May 17, the World Telecommunication Day.
For more on the Chinese IPTV developments:
- check out this China Business article
