n3xtgen
01-06-2007, 11:20 PM
Internet increasingly important to China
The Associated Press
China's population of internet users has risen by 30 per cent over the past year to 132 million, according to a state news agency, and the rising traffic is increasing the importance of the country's communications infrastructure.
The number of internet users was up from 123 million at the end of June, the Xinhua News Agency said, citing the government's China Internet Network Information Center. It said the number of Chinese customers with broadband access has grown to 52 million.
The rapid rise in internet use has propelled growth in China's online commerce, advertising and games industries, the country's internet agency said.
China's Communist government encourages internet use for business and education, but tries to block access to material deemed subversive or pornographic. Dozens of people have been jailed on subversion or security charges for posting political essays online.
The growing use of the internet in China means increasing traffic on the communications grid, an issue highlighted by a recent earthquake that disrupted some key undersea cables. Asia relies largely on high-speed cables running under the Pacific Ocean all the way to North America, still the world's technology and communications giant.
There are about 15 of these cables. Most of the high-capacity ones were installed in 2001, when companies raced to capitalize on what they thought was an imminent surge in demand for internet traffic.
But demand grew at a slower pace than expected, and the building boom ended badly for investors in companies like Global Crossing and MCI.
Now, internet traffic is starting to take a serious bite out of the immediately available capacity on the cables, though they can still be upgraded or "lit" by additional laser beams to carry more data.
But the recent Taiwan earthquake demonstrates that capacity is not everything: a big seismic event can affect many cables if they run close together.
Earlier this month, a consortium announced plans to lay a new $500-million US cable that should provide some more redundancy to the Asian region, enhancing a lower-speed system that serves as the lone direct link between the United States and China.
The consortium for the system includes New York-based Verizon Communications Inc., China Telecom, China Netcom, China Unicom, and companies in Korea and Taiwan. Construction is due to begin in the next three months and end in the third quarter of 2008.
The Associated Press
China's population of internet users has risen by 30 per cent over the past year to 132 million, according to a state news agency, and the rising traffic is increasing the importance of the country's communications infrastructure.
The number of internet users was up from 123 million at the end of June, the Xinhua News Agency said, citing the government's China Internet Network Information Center. It said the number of Chinese customers with broadband access has grown to 52 million.
The rapid rise in internet use has propelled growth in China's online commerce, advertising and games industries, the country's internet agency said.
China's Communist government encourages internet use for business and education, but tries to block access to material deemed subversive or pornographic. Dozens of people have been jailed on subversion or security charges for posting political essays online.
The growing use of the internet in China means increasing traffic on the communications grid, an issue highlighted by a recent earthquake that disrupted some key undersea cables. Asia relies largely on high-speed cables running under the Pacific Ocean all the way to North America, still the world's technology and communications giant.
There are about 15 of these cables. Most of the high-capacity ones were installed in 2001, when companies raced to capitalize on what they thought was an imminent surge in demand for internet traffic.
But demand grew at a slower pace than expected, and the building boom ended badly for investors in companies like Global Crossing and MCI.
Now, internet traffic is starting to take a serious bite out of the immediately available capacity on the cables, though they can still be upgraded or "lit" by additional laser beams to carry more data.
But the recent Taiwan earthquake demonstrates that capacity is not everything: a big seismic event can affect many cables if they run close together.
Earlier this month, a consortium announced plans to lay a new $500-million US cable that should provide some more redundancy to the Asian region, enhancing a lower-speed system that serves as the lone direct link between the United States and China.
The consortium for the system includes New York-based Verizon Communications Inc., China Telecom, China Netcom, China Unicom, and companies in Korea and Taiwan. Construction is due to begin in the next three months and end in the third quarter of 2008.