Almost every household in Shanghai will be able to access upgraded fixed-line broadband services 50 times faster than current speeds within three years.
China Telecom’s Shanghai branch, the city’s biggest fixed-line phone carrier, says it plans to invest RMB 26 billion ($3.8 billion) in Shanghai within the next two years and will also improve broadband networks to the city’s industrial zones.
This year more than 750,000 families will have access to fiber optic lines with speeds of up to 100 megabits per second, compared with current speeds of only one or two mbps, according to the Metro Optical Network plan.
According to Shanghai Telecom next year, about 1.5 million families will have access to fiber optic lines and over 3 million in 2011. Currently, 3.6 million local families are broadband users.
China Trade Information said the plan will attract total investment of about RMB 25 billion to 30 billion from related industries such as chip and network equipment sectors.