[photopress:China_broadband_1.jpg,full,alignright]Unless you have experience in many parts of the world it is difficult to realize how good Internet connections are in China. It is now quite possible that China will pass the U.S. to become the largest broadband market in the world later this year. Do not think of it as just an Internet system. Think of it as a seamless connection of video, e-commerce and online gaming, Internet access and other things as yet unthought of.
Research firm point 15pic thinks China added 4.5 million high-speed connections in the first three months of 2007 to 56.3 million. The U.S. ended the first quarter with 60.4 million. That is close, very close
China still lags the U.S. and many other countries in broadband ‘penetration.’ That is, there are a lot of connections, not enough people have them. Just 4.3% of the 1.3 billion people in China and 14.3% of households have speedy Internet connections.
In America, 52.7% of households have broadband. Mark you that is as nothing compared to say South Korea’s 90% penetration.
Yes, the Internet is censored to a degree in China as it is, to a degree, in other countries.
Dongming Zhang, research director of consultancy BDA China, said, ‘Censorship is not a big issue for the regular person. People use the Internet primarily for entertainment. They realize political stability is needed for China’s economic growth. They simply don’t care whether or not they can visit some Web sites.’ She is almost certainly correct in this and the same attitudes apply in other countries.
Note she is talking about the regular person, the average user. There are always those who are going to try and get around barriers, simply because they are there.
Dongming Shan said China’s Internet users are flocking to e-commerce and YouTube-like video-sharing Web sites. Sina and Sohu have created video-sharing services. According to the Internet Society of China more than 76 million Chinese Web users watched or uploaded video clips in 2006.
Online shopping has taken off in China, analysts said, as small businesses open up e-shops at auctions sites like Taobao.com, a subsidiary of Alibaba.com.
Amazon says it plans to double its investment in Joyo.com, an online retailer it acquired in 2004.
The 2008 Olympics in Beijing should probably speed up broadband adoption and that is when China may very well pass the United States in raw numbers but not in percentages.
Katja Mueller, an analyst at point 15pic said, ‘The government realizes it needs the Internet and broadband speeds for economic development. ‘
BDA China forecasts that China will have 68 million broadband connections by the end of 2007. Another research firm, Ovum, said China will reach 79 million. Safe to work on the basis it will be a lot.
Source: CNN Money