Shanghai residents can surf online through power lines by the end of this year as a state grid-controlled company plans to promote the new Internet access service in the city.
Beijing Fibrlink Co, a subsidiary of State Grid Co, said yesterday that the new service, called power line communication, or PLC, will cover 10,000 local families this year.
"Optical fibers are being installed in the city and we are ordering modems specially for our PLC network in Beijing and Shanghai," said Liu Yijun, the marketing director of the company's local branch.
Presently two residential areas in Pudong New Area are using the PLC service on trial. But the new service is still waiting for approval from the Ministry of Information Industry.
Liu also confirmed the company planned to officially promote the PLC service in Shanghai by the end of this month, when it is expected to get the license from the ministry.
In Beijing, the ministry has approved 6,000 to 7,000 families in more than 100 residential areas to be covered by the PLC network.
PLC allows users to access the Internet by a special modem and via existing power lines. Users can enjoy PLC service wherever there is a power plug.
The PLC service charges subscribers only 70 yuan (US$8.43) as the monthly flat rate, half of the current mainstream broadband's' fee level.
PLC service allowed subscribers to download music, film and big-size data at a speed from 14 to 50 megabits a second.
At present, the major broadband Internet access technologies in the city include asymmetric digital subscriber line, local area network and television cable.
China's online population reached 79.5 million by the end of December, a rise of 16.9 percent from June, according to China Internet Network Information Center.
The country now has the world's second largest Netizen population next only to the United States.
China Telecom Corp, Fibrlink's rival and the current broadband service market leader, sold 7 million ADSL sets last year, a 337 percent surge from a year ago.
(Shanghai Daily March 22, 2004)
