Information Technology Reference
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(CNNIC, 2009). While the number of broadband
users is an important metric, a more complete mea-
sure of a country's position in broadband would
consider penetration rate, access speed and cost.
The China Internet Network Information Centre
(CNNIC) reported that the broadband penetra-
tion rate in China was less than 25% as of 2009
(CNNIC,2009) while the Information Technology
and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) data showed
that more than 50% of households subscribed
to broadband among the 30 OECD countries as
of 2007 (Atkinson, Correa & Hedlund, 2008).
Eighty percent of Chinese broadband users use
ADSL access technology at a speed of less than
2Mbps, compared with the average download
speed of 9.2Mbps in the OECD member countries
(Benkler, 2009). The fastest broadband connec-
tion widely available in Japan is 100 mbps fiber
optic service at a price of about $27 per month
(Correa, 2007). In contrast, on average, a Chinese
broadband user pays $25 per month for 1.5mbps
ADSL service. With poor broadband coverage
and performance, China today still lags behind
in broadband internationally despite the fact that
it has topped global broadband market with the
total broadband user base exceeding 320 million.
Access to high-speed and always-on of the
broadband network is determined by a combina-
tion of the widely available telecommunication in-
frastructure and the accessibility and affordability
of broadband services, which are closely related
to government policies (IT Group, 1999). Other
literature suggests that the underlying reason for
broadband Internet access can be traced back to the
policy factors in each country, because government
policies governing the telecommunications service
market and promoting information infrastructure
have a significant impact on the performance of
broadband Internet access.
In common with other national governments,
the Chinese government recognizes that rapid
roll-out and adoption of broadband access across
China is critical to long term economic develop-
ment. Many national approaches to promoting
ICT development have been taken since the
1990s. How have those strategic and regulatory
developments impacted on broadband Internet
access? To answer this question, this research
investigates the relationship between policy fac-
tors, market environment and broadband access
by using a multiple perspective model.
The minimum necessary condition for par-
ticipation in this information age is access to
adequate network infrastructure. Without access
to global communication networks, no country
can participate in the networked world. Although
much of the press coverage on the information
economy has focused on applications such as e-
health, e-learning, e-government and e-commerce,
these content rich and data intensive applications
will not realise its full potential unless quality
broadband is widely accessible and more and
more household adopt broadband. Correa (2007)
states that 'in the digital economy it is the speed
and capacity of the network that matters' (p.
1). There are many studies focusing directly on
regulatory impacts on broadband supply such as
Fan (2008), Howell (2008) and Prieger and Lee
(2008). Fan (2008) looks at the influence of Aus-
tralia's government policy on broadband Internet
access while Howell (2008) examines the effect
of some regulatory factors on broadband diffusion
rates in the case of New Zealand. Using U.S. data
covering all areas served by major broadband
providers, Prieger and Lee (2008) investigate the
impact of telecommunications regulatory policy
on broadband availability and the role of incentive
regulation and local telecommunications competi-
tion policy in stimulating broadband deployment.
This study is primarily looking at how broadband
infrastructure and services have been provided in
China and how the Chinese government policies
can help to develop Internet infrastructure and
promote affordable and equitable broadband
Internet access in China. The objectives of this
chapter are to examine how policy factors influ-
ence broadband access and identify what role the
government policies have played in promoting
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