China IDC Circle reported on September 7 that the General Office of the State Council had recently issued the Promotion Plan for Three Networks Convergence, accelerating the comprehensive promotion of three networks convergence nationwide, and promoting the interconnection and resource sharing of information network infrastructure. According to the design of the scheme, China's triple play integration process will be comprehensively and deeply promoted.
The integration of three networks has been on the government's agenda since 2010. On January 13, 2010, the executive meeting of the State Council decided to accelerate the integration of telecommunications networks, radio and television networks and the Internet, and defined the timetable for the integration of three networks. In the same year, the first batch of pilot areas for triple play integration were announced, including 12 cities. In 2011, the second batch of pilot areas were announced. In 2013, SARFT and MIIT jointly implemented the promotion of tri networks integration. In 2015, radio and television networks, Hubei Cable and other radio and television enterprises were approved to carry out Internet access, Internet data transmission and other businesses. Now, three networks integration is ready to be carried out nationwide.
From this "Three Network Convergence Promotion Plan", we can roughly imagine the upcoming scenario after the implementation of the three network convergence. TV, telephone and Internet will gradually integrate into one. One service provider can solve the problem with one bill, and it will be more favorable. More TV programs and more new value-added telecom services will also appear.
Increased competition in the information industry will further reduce the tariff
At present, telecom operators are committed to the national task of speeding up and reducing fees, and the telephone fees and Internet access fees are continuously reduced. However, the cable TV fees in various regions have not been reduced, and the prices in some regions are still rising. This situation may be broken in the process of three networks integration, and telecom operators and radio and television networks will start to reduce prices.
More importantly, due to the convergence of the three networks, various telecom services and television services will be combined. Basic telecom operators, virtual operators, radio and television networks, television stations, etc. will provide a package of services, which makes it more possible to reduce prices.
As experts said, the triple play has broken the long-term vicious competition between telecom operators and radio and television operators in the field of video transmission. The major operators will compete for food in one pot, and the fees for watching TV, surfing the Internet and making calls may be reduced.
Using radio and television networks to make calls will soon become a reality
For many years, Internet phone has always been a forbidden area. Even though many types of Internet phone are in operation, they are in a gray area and have no legal identity. This time, the "Three Networks Integration Promotion Plan" almost means that the restrictions on Internet telephony have been completely lifted from the policy aspect. Telecom operators, radio and television networks and Internet companies will enter the fast lane to provide Internet telephony services.
VoIP, also known as VoIP, refers to the call service between computers, computers and telephones, and between telephones based on broadband technology. Since there is no need to build a dedicated network, VoIP has low operating costs and calls are much cheaper than traditional phones.
Theoretically, in the future, we can use the radio and television network to make or answer calls while watching TV, and call while surfing the Internet. Moreover, the integration of these services will also lead to more emerging applications.
The self operated TV stations of telecom operators may also be online
According to the plan of the Three Networks Integration Promotion Plan, qualified telecommunications enterprises can, under the supervision of the relevant departments, engage in the production of radio and television programs other than current politics programs, the transmission of Internet audio-visual program signals, the retransmission of current politics news audio-visual program services, public Internet audio-visual program services other than radio and television stations Interactive IPTV transmission and mobile TV distribution services. In other words, telecom operators will be qualified to produce TV programs and broadcast services, and China Mobile (Weibo) and other telecom operators can have their own TV stations.
Of course, operators need some time to prepare for producing TV programs and operating TV stations, and will not start immediately. IPTV may be the first beneficiary. IPTV refers to the use of IP technology to provide video services through broadband networks. IPTV combines the characteristics of TV service and telecom service, and its advantages lie in "interactivity" and "watching on demand", completely changing the shortcomings of traditional one-way TV broadcast. Due to the obstruction of the radio and television departments, IPTV has been tepid, even has become a lame duck, which is expected to be rectified after the introduction of the plan.
TV stations and operators are likely to form alliances, or even do not rule out the possibility of merger
It has always been said in the industry that China Telecom and China Unicom will merge, and China Mobile will also merge with the radio and television network. Although there is no sign that this is true now, with the further integration of the three networks, this possibility will not be ruled out in the future.
In fact, both radio and television and telecom operators are facing the impact of Internet OTT, and almost all of them are in a rout. Even if radio and television have policy shields and amulets, they know that it is difficult to support themselves in the long run. In the future development, if telecom operators and radio and television enterprises actively cooperate or even merge to control content Only after the pipeline has dual advantages can it really have the ability to compete.
In addition, in combination with the statement of the Three Networks Convergence Promotion Plan, perhaps the telecommunications law will be incorporated into the legislative process, and the basic law of the information industry, which has been difficult to produce for more than ten years, is expected to enter the substantive legislative stage, and having laws to follow is the greatest protection and support for the telecommunications industry. At the same time, the telecommunications network will also enjoy the same urban planning rights as the radio and television network. When entering the community and families, it will reduce the resistance of developers and properties, and more conducive to the people to enjoy high-quality broadband services at low prices and high speeds.
