(ECNS) - The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Wednesday made a quick response to a proposal made by Premier Li Keqiang the previous day, saying that it has made arrangements to conduct research into speeding up Internet access and cutting service fees.
This year, the ministry will increase investment in infrastructure, step up construction of 4G networks, and significantly boost broadband access speeds, so that Chinese netizens, including mobile device users, can enjoy faster online services at more favorable prices.
At an economic meeting in Beijing on Tuesday, Premier Li Keqiang called for reducing Internet service fees as well as improving infrastructure and Internet access speeds.
According to a report by the Beijing News on Thursday, as many as 92 percent of more than 100,000 netizens that participated in an online survey by jjj.qq.com, a Beijing lifestyle portal, said their Internet access speeds are "just average", and 85.1 percent attributed low access speeds and high service fees to a lack of competition due to industry monopoly.
An online joke quoted by the newspaper depicts those struggles. "If you forget to switch off your 4G, you'll wake up (in the morning) to find that your house now belongs to China Mobile."
Ding Lei, founder and CEO of NetEase, told the newspaper that high Internet service fees are restricting the development of its online training program targeting blue collar workers. Access speeds and service fees determine whether the company's products can benefit more users, he said.
As the most important information infrastructure, broadband bolsters the development of such technologies as the Internet of things and cloud computing, Ding said.
