China's cabinet is aiming for nationwide broadband coverage in both urban and rural areas by 2020.
The nation's State Council on Saturday announced details of its “Broadband China” strategy roadmap, including for the first time its planned implementation timetable, official press agency Xinhuareported.
Coverage targets include expanding fixed broadband coverage to half of Chinese households by 2015.
The government also expects 32.5% 3G coverage and FTTH coverage in all urban areas by this time, the Global Timessaid.
Its strategy calls for average broadband speeds of 20Mbps in urban areas and 4Mbps in rural areas by 2015, increasing to 50Mbps and 12Mbps respectively by 2020. This compares to a nationwide average speed today of under 3Mbps.
The government expects operators to be also be offering residential fiber speeds as high as 1Gbps in some urban areas by the end of the broadband plan.
The State Council has set a target of achieving annual growth in the IT sector of at least 20% between now and 2015.