The three-day forum, organized by the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) and the Ministry of Science and Technology, ends today in Beijing.

"Copper cable, the symbol of the narrowband telecom network, will disappear in China soon," said China Telecom. And more efficient optic fiber will replace it.

Compared with the present narrowband telecom network, a broadband network is similar to a wide superhighway that allows more data and voice and video signals to run through it at the same time.

The broadband network construction means huge business opportunities for telecom equipment manufacturers.

China's telecom sector invested 214.4 billion yuan (US$25.89 billion) last year in infrastructure. The investment will grow by 23 percent this year to reach 262.7 billion yuan (US$31.73 billion), according to statistics from the MII.

As the country's controlling fixed-line operator, China Telecom will be the biggest investor, analysts say.

The company recently signed a contract with Canada-based Nortel Networks for the country's largest-ever optic fiber agreement.

Under the agreement, that is worth US$101 million, Nortel will help China Telecom construct a 15,000-kilometre fiber optic network.

The access network, which is an important component of a telecom network, will account for about half of the total network construction investment, said China Telecom.

China's 22.5 million netizens will soon be able to access the Internet via high speed devices like ISDN (integrated service digital network) and ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) instead of dial-up systems via traditional telephone lines.

"Within the next three to five years, a nationwide flexible and reliable broadband access network will be established by China Telecom," said the company.

Through Ethernet, ISDN, ADSL and other broadband access methods, China Telecom said it will be able to provide customers with bit rates of up to 100 mbps (million bits per second).

China Telecom had 140 million fixed-line telephone users, 570,000 ISDN users and 16 million Internet users by the end of 2000.

By 2005, China Telecom will have 20 million broadband users, the company said.

(China Daily 02/28/2001)