Internet speed freaks may be getting a major fix later this year. China Telecom is upgrading its broadband network across 26 provinces, tripling speeds and giving a lift to services such as Internet protocol television.

The country's biggest fixed-line phone operator will finish its central infrastructure upgrades next month and its nationwide system improvements by the middle of the year, equipment maker Alcatel Shanghai Bell said yesterday.

China Telecom will deploy ASB products in 18 provinces in southern China and eight in the north. The value of the deal was not revealed.

China Telecom Shanghai branch declined to say when customers will be able to take advantage of the new service or how much it will cost.

New modems needed at the customer end of the system probably won't be available until late in the year, industry insiders said.

Under the new service, called ADSL2+, theoretical download speeds will be rated at 24 megabits a second compared with the current 8 megabits. Those speeds are achievable only in a highly controlled environment.

In practice, the speeds will probably reach 3 megs, up from 1 at present.

As customer demand for high-speed Internet access grows in China, service providers need to expand their broadband offerings, said Gerard Dega, Alcatel Shanghai Bell's president.

China Telecom's ADSL —asymmetric digital subscriber line — user number has now grown to 20 million nationwide, with more than 1 million in Shanghai.

"The fixed-line phone operators are not satisfied with just collecting Internet access fees — they're eager to cash in on value-added services," said Yan Junfeng, an analyst at IDC China. "Improvements in download speed will help them develop such services, like IPTV."

(Shanghai Daily February 8, 2006)