Broadband subscribers in China can expect better services and probably lower fees as the government considers opening the country's broadband access market to privately held companies.
中国政府正考虑向私营企业开放宽带接入市场，中国宽带用户将可能以更低的价格体验到更好的服务。
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has released a proposal which would encourage private businesses to enter the broadband market. The Ministry is soliciting public opinions until December 16, 2014.
A statement accompanying the proposal says that the move aims to stimulate healthy competition within the market and improve services.
Sixteen Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Chongqing, have been selected to take part in a 3-year test program. Private companies, when their applications are approved, could either directly construct broadband infrastructure, or rent resources to operate as service providers.
Currently, China's broadband market is dominated by three state-owned telecoms operators - China Unicom, China Telecom, and China Mobile.
In 2011, media reports surfaced that China Unicom and China Telecom were embroiled in antitrust investigations for alleged abuse of dominance in the broadband market.
The 16 Chinese cities selected for the test program are:
