Someone asked for Facts, well here is FACTS!
(China Telecom is the Telecom Monopoly in China NYSE(CL), they hold ALL the strings and with Microsoft in, well....please make your own assumptions)!
China Telecom sees Internet users double in '99
SHENZHEN, China, March 10 (Reuters) - Telecommunications giant
China Telecom said on Wednesday it expected its Internet customers
to double to three million by the end of this year.
''We expect the number of our Internet users to be double from that in 1998 to about
three million by the end of 1999,'' said Yin Yiping, director of the data communications
bureau of China Telecom.
Yin said China Telecom had 400,000 Internet customers in China at the end of 1997.
The number grew to 1.5 million at the end of 1998.
China had about 2.1 million Internet users at end of 1998, Yin added.
Yin said the number of Internet users would grow rapidly after the launch of Microsoft
Corp's (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) Venus project, which aims to bring low-cost Internet
access to China.
''We expect the number of Internet users will increase very quickly, but it will depend on
when it (Venus project) will be launched,'' the China Telecom official said.
MORE NEWS
Reuters - Microsoft aims new operating system at China's masses
In follow up to my post from earlier today....
SHENZHEN, China -- Microsoft Corp chairman Bill Gates unveiled on Wednesday a
new operating system designed to bring Internet access to Chinese homes at less than
one-fifth the price of a personal computer.
Microsoft's Venus operating system would allow Chinese electronics firms to combine
a web browser, low-end personal computer (PC) and video compact disc (VCD)
player in a single box attached to a television for people who cannot afford a PC, Gates
said.
''Our goal is a very aggressive goal, and that is to introduce millions and millions of
people to computers and to the Internet,'' he told a news conference in China's southern
city of Shenzhen.
The U.S. software maker looked at China's mature consumer appliance market, the
incredible popularity of VCDs, the low market penetration of PCs, and the willingness
of Chinese parents to invest in their children's education, and found a niche for the
Venus system, he said.
''We wanted a product with learning capabilities, as well as VCD capabilities,'' Gates
said. ''The VCD is a phenomenal product here in China.''
Statistics published in state newspapers show China has 40 million VCD players and
320 million television sets. This compares with about 11 million PCs installed nationwide
and two million Internet users.
Venus, a version of Microsoft's Windows CE and Web TV products tailored for the
Chinese market, was expected to be ready for release by the second half of this year,
Gates said.
In one demonstration, a Microsoft researcher used a prototype Venus device to write a
Chinese document, run money-management and drawing programmes, play games and
log on to Microsoft's home page on the Internet, all at speeds comparable to a PC.
Nine electronics firms have expressed interest in developing Venus devices, including
Taiwan's Acer Inc, Philips Consumer Electronics of the Netherlands, and China's
Legend Group Co, Stone Electronics, BBK Electronics Co Ltd and Haier Group Co, a
Microsoft statement said.
''Set-top boxes and low-end PCs are nothing new,'' said one official of U.S. microchip
maker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), which aims to supply chips for Venus
devices.
''The real attractiveness is low entry cost,'' AMD Asia-Pacific marketing manager Shane
Rigby told Reuters.
Rigby said he had seen estimated prices for Venus products as low as 1,500 yuan
($181), compared with 10,000 yuan for a domestically made PC with a 350 megahertz
processor.
''It's more than just home entertainment,'' he said. ''It's driven by requests for
information. People really need information here.''
mercurycenter.com
$Mogul |
