Regulator urged to decontrol Net TV

China Telecom and China Netcom yesterday called for the deregulation of the IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) market, which could give a major boost to the broadband Internet business of these two fixed-line carriers.

"There is an ongoing worldwide deregulation trend in IPTV. However, it's not happening in China," said Wei Leping, China Telecom's chief engineer.

Wei complained that regulators so far allow China Telecom offer IPTV commercial services in only six cities, preventing it from reaching millions of potential customers across the country.