China plans to merge three major networks, namely Internet, telecommunication network and broadcasting network into one in the five years, said a telecommunications expert in Beijing Tuesday.

The merger of three networks has been included into the 11th Five-Year Guidelines (2006-2010), which is still in the making, said Song Junde, professor at Peking University's School of Post and Telecommunications, at a forum on telecommunication networks.

However, with the broadcasting network under one supervisor and the other two under another, their integration is expected to receive resistance from vested-interests.

As proposed in the five-year guidelines, China is to enhance the construction of its broadband, digital television and next generation internet, so as to achieve their merger in the future, said Song.

The merger, Song said, will optimize the structure of China's telecommunications industry and facilitate the upgrading and reform of the networks.

The prospect of a network merger has boosted the network-related market. Statistics with the China Center for Information Industry Development show that China's network equipment market reached 22.77 billion yuan (about US$2.84 billion) last year, up 33.1 percent over the previous year.

(Xinhua News Agency November 30, 2005)