China telecom face broadband access antitrust investigation - Business

China's largest basic network operators, China telecom (the Po), will not receive China anti-monopoly law issued three years in the first tickets?

A source told the financial state weekly "reporter, related ministries that has problems of broadband access, China telecom on antitrust investigation, and possible in antitrust penalty.

If the final decision came out, will be in China public utilities and Internet industry cause vibrations. Before this, transportation, telecommunication, oil, ShuiDianQi, Internet, and other public career has been the focus of concern of the outside world antitrust, but so far no case to be punished.

As China's largest broadband access and the Internet data center (IDC) provider, China telecom own strategy for antitrust investigation as to adjust to the Chinese Internet, industrial development pattern also will bring great influence.

Whether there is a ticket

"Whether antitrust penalty and punishment amount, and have how much there is no final results. However, the investigation of evidence, based on the not ruled out the possibility of China telecom punished." September 9 months, one person told the financial state weekly "reporter.

Sources, the relevant departments of the investigation since the first half of this year will have an investigation of evidence, related ministries and China telecom on several rounds of communication to obtain evidence, unicom, tietong and a number of access enterprise, research institutions and DuoWei experts and verification. The main research contents, is China telecom in broadband access and the settlement between field, whether network using their own have dominant market position, block affect other operators to enter the market, etc. "Through the investigation, the relevant departments of China telecom monopoly basic think there may plan behavior. The illegal income 1% to 10% of the punishment." The people said.

According to the August 24 China telecom (00728.) the results, published HK the company $120.208 billion in the first half of revenue and net income of 9.808 billion yuan, the total number of broadband users statistics 70.09 million households, cable broadband access income for 29.755 billion yuan, accounting for 24.8% of the business turnover. And, according to the previous results, China telecom in the whole of 2010 net profit of 15.759 billion yuan.

An operator sources, China telecom attaches great importance to the matter, special DuoGe province company transferred from men, a special team to deal with the matter.

Clean up "the third party access"

People familiar with the relevant departments, focus on China telecom monopoly, is rooted in part for the 2010 enterprise organization in the second half of "broken network events" report, and the evidence material also more from these enterprise organization.

Early August 2010, China telecom distributed internal document calls, the provinces of high bandwidth and special line company access to clean up the backbone, in addition to the normal interworking is the core point, clean up all the other operators and interconnected units of such as "through flow" access.

The provisions of the industry quickly trigger concussion.

The so-called "through flow", refers to some company in China telecom, not himself after purchase bandwidth use, but sell to other operators make profits.

According to the regulations, to work letter compensation, China telecom and China unicom's backbone network, the network operators investment between interworking, as long as the Internet users have between flow, other operators net to them in one settlement. But in actual manipulation, China telecom was established "the black and white list", be the difference in price, the price is higher than other customers to other broadband access manufacturers settlement between networks to drive up the cost of the bandwidth of the rival access. The price and the market price, the price difference between the top up to several times and even dozens of times. "" this appear. Through flow Through this method, some operators with relatively low prices can access telecommunications backbone. According to China telecom a internal material, when "flow through estimate" make a single user competitors to cost down 25 yuan/month.

China telecom cut through flow "move", make other access operator was badly hit. On 12 August 2010 to September 9,, 27 days, only broke the guangdong tietong 37477 a customer complaint, 38443 users refused to pay cost, and has 28210 users face back nets. According to insiders, the clean up its estimated Internet users could be more than 10 million.

In the work of departments under the letter intervention, event to China telecom cleaning slowing efforts against quell temporary. However, in the industry, it seemed, because the settlement between policy no net adjustment, so a similar event in the future could still continues to appear, but along with the advancement of three nets fusion, radio and television enterprise will also participate in more Internet business, contradiction for may even intensified.

The settlement between policy to break through the net

In some industry insiders, it seemed, relative to a fine, the more important is through the antitrust program to make changes to the rules of the game.

"If just fine, also can't really solve the problem of monopoly." Telecommunication expert, said HouZiJiang settlement between charges standard of net makers not China telecom. The problem is, DuoNian formulated before the policy now and market situation of line. "The price is 2007 years with reference to international price, but now the price on the international have sunk 10 times, we also did not move."

"The country more should set rules, not make price." HouZiJiang think, if don't change the rules of the game, China telecom monopoly advantage will always exist.

According to the anti-monopoly law, a single operator market share of 50%, two operators 67%, three operators is 75% for monopoly. In broadband access areas, 95%, 90% and, international export broadband Internet broadband Internet access Internet content services users, 99%, were focused on China telecom and China unicom network. This means that other Internet access to the users access to the Internet, manufacturers are inevitable and China telecom and China unicom generate traffic, as long as the settlement between policy unchanged, net of other manufacturers will still Yang, China telecom and China unicom gasp survival.

Since 2001 the settlement between nets, has been introduced to a dispute, and DuoCi trigger the industry contradictions. In 2004, 2006 and 2007, the ministry of information industry three degrees of modified nets settlement between method, but with no change rules, mainly means one-way settlement just cap price cut, not solved the problem.

A work of telecommunications research institute said experts believe, in addition to the relevant departments of the antitrust investigation, the future need workers believe department, such as state-owned assets supervision of the administrative department of industry to cooperate, from system to adjust, can really solve the nets, but the settlement between the body and a launch, the pattern adjustment will on the three operators in the pattern of competition and even the entire Internet industry development with great influence, "so overall considerations, and the needs may require higher levels of coordination, it will be possible to finish".

Antitrust LiangJian

Anti-monopoly law had come on stage during the 3 years, also have the anti-monopoly lawsuit in state-owned enterprises, but there is no punishment cases.

Have analysts think, the reason is that, the article 7 of antitrust law regulation, dominated by state-owned economy and the development of national economy and the security of the state according to law, exercise exclusive industries as well as the industry to the operators, the state shall protect the legitimate business activities, and the operator of business behavior and the prices of goods and services oversight and regulation conducted according to law.

A law experts say that the Chinese antitrust power design also increases the difficulty of renmin antitrust. For now, the anti-monopoly law to perform the antitrust on antitrust committee, and only the ministry of commerce, the national development and reform commission, the state administration of industry and commerce three have anti-monopoly law, including the ministry of commerce on foreign capital perform, administration of industry and commerce on the private economy, development and reform commission on the state-owned enterprise.

"Antitrust law enforcement of competitive requires professional, but three competition law enforcement agencies for specific regulation of the industry monopoly and competition law enforcement is not professional." In may this year a antitrust meeting, people's university of China economic law research center, said the spring theory of antitrust law will not perform antitrust law awarded telecom, postal service, banking, insurance, electric power, transportation departments or regulators, it avoids the regulators and Banks too closely, and finally by the interests of the Banks or emotional, but also led to a special kidnapping against monopoly in the field of the not very professional perform to the agency, have the ability of institutions, judges perform, "such as not the ministry of commerce and industry to the Internet industry not very deep, it can be difficult to make clear the competition problems which behaviors form or not constituting unfair competition and unreas onable monopoly, it is not the first time intervention in forcefully and in place and effective enforcement of the law."

access point vs router