BMI has extended its coverage of the fixed-line and broadband sections of the ChinaTelecommunications Report, complementing previous additions made to the mobile section (remainingthe same over the quarter) in Q209 with regard to mobile content and regional markets.At the end of March 2009, there were a total of 335.31mn fixed lines, of which urban fixed-linesubscribers dominated on 228.04mn, the remainder based in rural areas. That urban areas, due to theirgreater accessibility and also wealth, should retain most of the fixed lines in the country is no surprise.
However, on closer inspection and on a provincial level, as revealed in our regional fixed-line tables, itwas noted that, despite the overall assumption that fixed line was in decline, there were still areas ofgrowth. Indeed over the year, east China’s fixed line noted an increase in fixed-line subscribers overall,compared to both central and west China. This largely came from rural markets, up by 7% y-o-y, whileurban markets noted a smaller rise of 2.6% y-o-y.
As the overall number of fixed-line subscribers has fallen, so, too, has the amount of time spent on voicetelephony calls. The total amount of time spent on fixed lines fell by 6.6% in the year to 206.728bnminutes, of which the majority were accounted for by domestic long-distance (DLD) calls at 99% or204.666bn minutes, down by 6.4% y-o-y. The remainder was made up of either international calls(excluding Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan), at 11.19bn minutes (down by 19.3% y-o-y), while HongKong, Macau and Taiwan call minutes fell the most by 34.9% y-o-y to 9.4bn minutes.
Demand for broadband services continues thanks to the ever-growing prevalence of content, and inparticular that of online gaming, online video and online music, coupled together with basic internetapplications of search engines and instant messaging. By the end of March 2009, there were a total of88.13mn broadband subscribers, up from the 83.425mn reported at the end of 2008. During the year, themarket expanded by 26%, up from 28% in the previous year. This expanded at a slower rate than internet,which according to CNNIC had risen by an impressive 78% in 2008. The difference in growth betweenbroadband and internet we believe relates to cost as well as network availability. Certainly, China’s fixedlineoperators have outlined significant investments into their broadband infrastructures with ChinaUnicom spending some CNY9.049bn in 2008. As network speeds and capacity rise, so, too, will thedemand for broadband services.
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