According to an informed industry insider, China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) recently issued an internal memo instructing local cable operators to collect and investigate evidence of potential legal infringements on the part of local telecom operators developing IPTV services. Prior to the circulation of the directive, local cable stations had demanded that SARFT place firmer restrictions on local telecom operators' development of IPTV services. The new SARFT directive emphasizes three central points: 1. IPTV, by definition, may not include live broadcast; 2. on-demand content must, in all instances, be subject to the approval of SARFT; and 3. the role of business entities must be distinct: as an IPTV license holder, Shanghai Media Group (SMG) may operate anywhere, while China Telecom and Unicom, which are not IPTV license holders, may not.

One Chinese netizen has recently reported that local cable TV stations in Mianyang, the first trial city for triple-play network convergence, have openly commissioned TV announcements in which they accuse local telecom operators either of falsely advertising IPTV services that are not, truly, IPTV services, or of engaging in illegal activity by providing IPTV without the requisite licenses.

Source:marbridgeconsulting