Broadband drive makes rural areas prosperous
Three telecom majors to empower villagers through e-commerce plan
An increasing number of Chinese villages are connected online and achieving prosperity through e-commerce, thanks to the government’s guidance to the country’s three major telecom carriers to extend broadband internet connectivity to rural areas.
Hongsibao in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region is one such rural area. It boasts as many as 15 e-commerce platforms on which 20 metric tons of wine, 12 tons of medlarandfivetonsofflaxseedoil have been sold so far.
“In the past, when we didn’t have the e-commerce option, we would give away the ripe fruit to our friends whenever possible,said Li Wenbin, Party secretary of Yongxin village, which is located in the region.
“Else, it would just fall on the backyard ground, rot, turn to dust. Now, online promotions help sell the fruit. We earn 4,000 yuan ($580) a year,”
Li is one of the villagers who are benefiting from intensified efforts by Communications Corp and China Telecom Corp and China United Network Communications Ltd to expand broadband network to povertyridden villages.
“Once connected to the internet, farmers can do e-commerce themselves and eke out a livelihood. That’s the power of information — it has a role to play in poverty alleviation,” said Mu Zhanbao, an employee at China Mobile’s local unit in the region.
In 2016, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Finance organized two pilot projects to expand internet access to China’s rural areas.
The move followed worries that the digital divide between urban and rural areas was continuously widening.
Last year, the central government and China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom poured 30 billion yuan into the initiative.
They planned to help more than 100,000 villages across 27 provinces build or upgrade their telecom infrastructure.
To encourage its subsidiaries to participate in the broadband campaign as well, China Telecom matches the government’s subsidies.
China Unicom, meanwhile, has also asked its branches to actively take part in the drive.
In addition, the three companies have increased supervision of each village-level project.
Their priority now is to set up broadband facilities for villagers and help promote agricultural modernization and information consumption in villages.
In recent years, broadband access has improved in urban areas and developed areas. Among rural families, broadband penetration was 40 percent lower than that of the urban families.
In May, the MIIT and the Ministry of Finance expanded the initiative to cover more villages. This year, about 33,000 villages across 21 provinces will be included in the drive.
Once connected to the internet, farmers can do e-commerce themselves and eke out a livelihood.That’s the power of information.” Mu Zhanbao, an employee at China Mobile’s local unit in the region.