China will step of the transition of cable TV from analog broadcasting to digital broadcasting in urban areas to build up a network in the near future. With the network, the cost of the development of digital businesses and technological upgrading will be reduced to the minimum, making the cable TV network more competitive under the new situation.

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) started in 2003 the promotion of digital cable TV in 49 areas across the country on a trial basis. Currently, some cities such as Qingdao, Foshan, Hangzhou and Dalian have developed relatively successful mode of transition and a fairly large number of digital cable TV subsribers.

The TV sets in these areas have become multi-media information terminals featuring broadcasting, information service, education and entertainment as well as interaction.

By People's Daily Online