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Message-Id:  <199903121945.OAA23039@cnd-f.cnd.org>
Date:         Fri, 12 Mar 1999 14:38:33 -0500
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Sender: Chinese Computing Network <CCNET-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>
From: Cnd China <cnd-china@CND.ORG>
Organization: China News Digest (CND)
Subject:      CINET-L Newsletter Issue No. 102 (CN99-03), March 12, 1999
Comments: To: CND-CN-L@cnd-f.cnd.org
To: CCNET-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+  C I N E T - L   N e w s l e t t e r  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                  Issue No. 102 (CN99-003), March 12, 1999

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| China's InterNET Technical Forum (CINET-L) is a non-public discussion     |
| list, CINET-L is technically sponsored by China News Digest and CINET-L   |
| newsletter is published by volunteers in CINET-EDITOR@CND.ORG, for more   |
| information regarding CINET-L, please see the end of this message.        |
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| acknowledgment to CINET-L.                                                |
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|                           ISSN     1024-915X                              |
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Table of Contents                                                 # of Lines
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1. News Brief (8 Items) ................................................ 166
2. China Cuts Telephone, Internet Rates ................................. 28
3. Microsoft to Offer TV-based Thin-Client in China ..................... 42

For CND Golf Shirt, see http://www.cnd.org/shirt or e-mail cnd-shirt@cnd.org
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1. News Brief (8 Items) ................................................ 166
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  (1) Guangxi Post Office to Build IP over ATM Network
  (2) China Internet Users to Reach 5.5 Million in Mid-1999
  (3) Contingency Plans on Y2K Underway in China
  (4) Eight Multinational Companies Signed Up For HK Cyberport
  (5) Law Makers Call for Information Security Legislation
  (6) Ericsson Introduces Chinese Input in Mobile Phones
  (7) Compaq-Developed Online Bookstore Opens in Beijing
  (8) Microsoft, Hong Kong Telecom to Strike Internet Deal
                          ____   ____   ____

(1) Guangxi Post Office to Build IP over ATM Network

[CND, 02/25/99] The Guangxi Post and elecommunications Administration
(GXPTA) announced plans for an IP over ATM network, CNET reported.

With the new service, GXTPA will be in a position to provice multiple
services for customers on a single platform.

The backbone network will support data, video, Internet, LAN, VPN, and SNA
services.

Cisco will provide BPX(R) 8600 Series ATM edge switches for the backbone
switching.  (Ray ZHANG, YIN De An)
                          ____   ____   ____

(2) China Internet Users to Reach 5.5 Million in Mid-1999

[CND, 02/28/99] According to a forecast released, the number of Internet
users in China is fairly likely to reach 5.5 million by the middle of this
year, AFP reported.

According to a statement by Hong Kong-based consultancy Big Brains, China
had 3.4 million people on the Internet at the end of last year.  making it
the world's seventh biggest Internet user base.

"China's Internet user base will hit 5.5 million in mid-1999, 10 million
in mid-2000 and be at least 15 million by mid-2001," the statement
forecasted.

The latest official statistics from the China Internet Network Information
Centre shows that the number of users is just 2.1 million at the end of
last year.

The discrepency between the two counts stems from the knowledge that
Internet accounts are often shared by peope in China.  (Ray ZHANG, YIN De
An)
                          ____   ____   ____

(3) Contingency Plans on Y2K Underway in China

[CND, 03/03/99] The government is working on contingency plans to combat
the Y2K bug, AFP reported.

At the conclusion of a three-day conference on the millennium bug, China
was said to "still evaluating [contigency plan] reports [which are] going
to be ready in June."  The work is underway, however no specific details
are available.

China, one of 18 countries that signed a declaration at the conference,
pledged to work closely with other Asian and Pacific nations in combating
the Y2K glitch.

Experts at the conference agree that Asian countries are considered to be
behind developed nations in their preparedness for the Y2K bug.  (Ray
ZHANG, YIN De An)
                          ____   ____   ____

(4) Eight Multinational Companies Signed Up For HK Cyberport

[CND, 03/03/99] Eight multinational information industry companies have
teamed up to become anchor tenants at Hong Kong's planned Cyberport,
Newsbytes reported.

The planned Cyberport, budged at HK$13 billion, will be built at Telegraph
Bay, Pokfulam, beginning 2002.  It's expected to become a regional center
combining high-speed telecommunications and computing services.

The project will creat as many as 12,000 jobs for Hong Kong.

Last year, Pacific Century Group approached the government with the idea
for a Cyberport.

So far, a number of international companies have expressed interests in
becoming anchor tenants of the Cyberport.  Companies that have signed
letters of intent include Hewlett Packard, IBM, Oracle, Yahoo and Japan's
Softbank.  (Ray ZHANG, YIN De An)
                          ____   ____   ____

(5) Law Makers Call for Information Security Legislation

[CND, 03/05/99] Deputies to the Second Session of the Ninth National
People's Congress called for legislation to ensure information security,
Nikkei reported.

Shanghai deputy ZHANG Lansheng pointed out that the lack of security of
information has become the leading problem among the rising e-commerce
sector in China.

Last year, nearly 100 cases of computer break-in were spotted.  Computer
networks of financial institutions were the favorest targets by the
hackers.

In recent years, the government has stepped up efforts to ensure
information security.  A Criminal Law and a series of regulations
governing the protection of computer information system have been unveiled
in recent years.  (Ray ZHANG, YIN De An)
                          ____   ____   ____

(6) Ericsson Introduces Chinese Input in Mobile Phones

[CND, 03/06/99] Ericsson announced that all new ranges of their mobile
phones will include a version that supports Chinese input technology, CNET
reported.

The target of the new technology will be China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
There are currently about 30 million mobile phone users in China.

Users of the new phone will be able to send and receive message in Chinese
and input Chinese in Simplified Chinese or Traditional Chinese, or a
combination of both, in any of the three input methods available: Pinyin
or Bopomofo, or Zi 8.

The release date of the new phones is targeted for the second quarter of
1999.
                          ____   ____   ____

(7) Compaq-Developed Online Bookstore Opens in Beijing

[CND, 03/09/99] Beijing Book Center Online, a Beijing-based Internet
bookstore, opened, AFP reported quoting an announcement from Compaq.

The new book on-line bookstore, boasting 160,000 Chinese titles, is
developed by Compaq China and the China Information Highway Corporation.

Compaq president Eckhard PFEIFFER and Beijing Vice Mayor LIN Wenyi
attended the inauguration.

"Compaq is, and has always been, confident in China's economic
development, and we have identified China as a key player in the
e-commerce world," Pfeiffer was quoted as saying.

The routine maintenance and integration of systems infrastructure will be
the responsibilities of the China Information Highway Corporation.  Compaq
will provide servers and technical and network architectural support. (Ray
ZHANG, YIN De An)
                          ____   ____   ____

(8) Microsoft, Hong Kong Telecom to Strike Internet Deal

[CND, 03/09/99] With its partnership with Microsoft, Hongkong Telecom is
to be the first in the world to provide on-line rental of software
applications, films and games to users, the South China Morning Post
reported on Monday.

The new service is to be launched at year end. Users can choose not to
purchase software applications, but rent them as needed. The network speed
makes the user feel no delay in using the application. Since the software
will not be fully downloaded to the users' computer, it makes it harder to
pirate the softwares.

The deal will be announced by Bill Gates on Tuesday, who will then leave
for Shenzhen. Rumours of the deal helped Hongkong Telecom's share to gain
nine per cent last Friday. (Jim YANG, WU Yiyi)

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2. China Cuts Telephone, Internet Rates ................................. 28
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[CND, 03/02/99] China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII)  announced
new cuts for telephone rates effective Monday, according to the China
Daily.

The ministry cut the monthly charge of lines leased by Internet service
providers (ISPs) by 111,600 yuan (US$13,446). The reduced rate will amount
to 320,000 yuan (US$38,600) per month. Consequently, the monthly rate for
a 60-hour internet account is to drop to four yuan (US$0.46), reduced by
one yuan.

The phone cuts will reduce phone installation and mobile phone access fees
significantly. The phone installation fees in Beijing has been about 3,600
yuan, while the new rate is about 500 yuan.

Calls to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan will be cut from 8.10 yuan to five
yuan per minute. However, fees are not lowered for overseas calls.

The cuts for domestic rates were due to an increasing complaint from
consumers, according to a MII official.  MII Minister WU Jichuan pledged
that there would be a cut for international telephone rates in the future.

Telephone users in China have steadily increased over the years. Last
year, the number of telephone users reached 110 million, which translates
to about one telephone for every 10 Chinese.  (Dan WU, WU Yiyi)

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3. Microsoft to Offer TV-based Thin-Client in China ..................... 42
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[CND, 03/10/99] At a signing ceremony in Shenzhen, Microsoft Chairman Bill
Gates announced a project coded named "Venus" which will allow millions of
television viewers in China access to the Internet.

Using a special device connected to the TV set, users will be able to
access games, software and the Internet.

The device will be produced by Microsoft along with server local
manufacturers or manufacturers who have presence in China, which include
Legend Group, Yuxing Electronics Group, Stone Ginbin Co., Acer Inc, Haier
Group Co., Integrated Technology Express Inc., Philips Ltd., and BBK
Electronics Co. Ltd.

The device will have a keyboard, a mouse and a joy stick for input, and
will use a TV set for output.

Net access services by end users will be provided by a special arrangement
between Microsoft and China Telecom.  No details are available yet.

According to a Microsoft spokeswoman, the device would range in
cost from 1,500 to 3,000 RMB.

The cost of the Venus project wasn't disclosed.  "It is a very big
investment, much more than our sales levels here. But it is based on our
belief that there will be considerable growth in the years ahead," Gates
said.

There are now 2.1 million Internet users in China, two percent of whom
regularly surf the net.  In contrast, the country has some 320 million TV
set, a potentially huge market for Web-based PC.

Last year, Microsoft launched a somewhat similar project on a smaller
scale in Shanghai, however, with two distinct differences:  The Shanghai
version requires a small, handheld computers and employees entirely
Western technology, while the latest thin-client approach uses technology
jointly developed by Chinese and Western experts at Microsoft's research
facility in Beijing.

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|                         Coordinator: Ray ZHANG                           |
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