China's Telecoms Revolution

In this SciDev. Net article, authors Cheng Donghong and Jia Hepeng analyse the development potential and results of information communication technologies (ICTs) proliferation in China, home to an estimated 338 million internet users. They explain how China's growing ICT network combines benefits to both investors and rural communities.

China's economic growth over the past 30 years has created more social wealth and higher disposable incomes, leading to stronger demand for ICTs. ICT costs have been lowered by growth in large-scale manufacturing, making ICTs increasingly affordable to broader populations. The question explored by the authors is whether ICT is serving development goals or simply creating corporate profits. They state that ICT infrastructures in remote regions, while initially generating little profit, may bring financial returns in the long term. "China Mobile, the country's largest telecommunications operator, has invested heavily in rural areas. The company claims that more than half of its new users since 2007 are in rural areas, even though the per capita income in these regions is only a third of that in cities. In the rural Ningxia Autonomous Region, for example, telecoms operators and ICT companies have joined forces with the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) in setting up a centre to provide online information, text messaging services and ICT training for poor rural farmers.

So far the project has trained about 170,000 farmers to use the Internet. And since mid-2007, farmers in the region's Pingluo County have used the centre to sell produce worth an estimated 230 million yuan (US$34 million).

By providing economically valuable and relevant information on agricultural technologies and markets, the operators have secured growth in the use of their services and created sustainable returns."

Because the government is centralised and owns many telecom corporations, it is in a position to establish ICT projects that provide social services and promote social development, whether or not profits are significant: "The government's Village-to-Village project, launched in the early 1990s, has extended television, telephone - both landline and mobile - and Internet connections to rural areas. By 2010, more than 716,000 villages will have access to satellite TV signals."

The centralised decisionmaking can lead to disjunction on a local or village-to-village level. For example, training or technical support might be duplicated or farming technology introduced that is not locally appropriate. However, some local ICT applications are showing utility at the local level. "The Safety and Mutual Help Network, for example, is an emergency service for rural areas that represents a new form of partnership between industry and local communities.

The network was established when rural communities in Shandong Province asked for a security service because many young people were leaving to work in cities, and the old and weak left behind became vulnerable to attack, robbery and accident.

The telecoms company China Unicom responded by connecting every telephone line to the public loudspeaker in the village broadcasting station so that in an emergency anyone can quickly send out an SOS message to the whole community. Nearly seven million people across China are now signed up to the project."

The authors cite the fact that "[b]y working more closely with end-users and community organisations, Chinese ICT companies are ensuring that its rapidly expanding ICT networks deliver real developmental benefits."

An example of a social organisation's involvement and potential to deliver development benefits is that of CAST's work in rural communities. "[L]ocal CAST branches have established instant-messaging links that allow farmers and experts to communicate efficiently on agricultural, technological and production issues. They have also developed an online chat room for both sides to exchange their experience and expertise. [A] local CAST branch helped 2,000 farmers develop mushroom farming ...through online video training and chat rooms."