CRI听力:Ministry Announces Targets for Faster, Cheaper Internet

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has announced plans to boost Internet speed and cut costs.

By the end of this year, the average broadband speed for users in major municipalities and provincial capitals in China will be increased to 20 megabytes per second (Mbps) from the current 9 Mbps.

In other urban areas the average broadband speed will be improved to 10 Mbps from the current 7 Mbps.

More than 1.3 million 4G base stations will be built in urban and rural areas by the year end.

MIIT's deputy minister Shang Bing offers more details on the plans:

"By the end of 2017, optical broadband speeds of 100 megabytes per second (Mbps) will be offered to almost all the urban families. Average broadband speed will reach 30 Mbps in major municipalities and provincial capitals. And average charges for mobile phone Internet and fixed broadband should be sharply decreased by at least 30 percent from the previous year by the year end."

In line with the plans, three domestic carries, China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, have each provided cost-cutting plans.

China Mobile is going to unveil twelve fee-reduction measures which will see mobile Internet fees cut by at least 35 percent by the end of this year.

China Unicom will offer free upgrades to the 4G network for 2G and 3G users and cut mobile Internet fees by around 20 percent.

China Telecom will improve broadband speed for its users nationwide free of charge.