By Chen Xiaohong
At the end of June, Baidu Company as one of the Internet enterprises launched National College Student Competition on Rural Informatization Innovation, and established environmental-friendly computer classrooms in rural primary schools jointly with Association for Underdeveloped Regions in China (AURC). In terms of the reason for Baidu's great attention to the rural market, Li Yanhong, Board Chairman and CEO of Baidu Company, said frankly that to serve "agriculture, farmers and rural areas" is the responsibility of enterprises, which was also a new opportunity for the Internet to develop further.
On this point, experts pointed out that, with the increasingly saturated urban market, the rural market is becoming a new growth point for not only Baidu Company but also all telecom operators and Internet service suppliers. For the moment, China's telecom industry, which involves China Mobile, China Telecom, UNICOM and many other service suppliers, is transferring the development core to the rural area that is with more growth potential. And the precondition to expand the rural market is to increase investment in order to popularize computers, mobile phones and broadband networks in rural areas.
For the sake of expediting rural communications network construction, since 2004, China has initiated a project named "Telephones covering all villages", and spreading the range from administrative villages to natural villages. In December, 2007, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly launched "Household appliances going to the countryside" activity and brought mobile phones and computers into subsidy range successively, which had rapidly increased the popularity of mobile phones and computers in rural areas.
With the further implementation of the "Telephones covering all villages" project, telecom operators have proposed rural broadband strategies in succession, which has laid a foundation for rural informatization application. At present, telephones have been installed in about 99.7 percent of administrative villages and 92.4 percent of natural villages in China. Meanwhile, the network has covered in 98 percent of villages and towns, the broadband has covered in 95 percent of villages and towns, and "Internet covering all townships" has realized in 27 provinces. By the end of 2008, rural netizen number has reached 84.6 million with an annual growth rate beyond 60 percent, which indicates that the growth of rural telecom subscribers has outclassed the one in cities and rural telecom market has rapidly entered into growing period from incubation period.
Besides hardware conditions and infrastructure facilities, the key to expand the rural market is based on developing the information platform and resource suitable to rural residents' demands. In April, 2009, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued 2009 Advices on implementing "Telephones covering all villages" Project and "Informatization going to the countryside" Activity, definitely requesting that such three major operators as China Telecom, China Mobile and UNICOM shall consummate the information service platform in rural areas, strive for fulfilling the work of "Informatization going to the countryside" in more than 10,000 domestic villages and towns within the year of 2009 and realizing "Four ones", i.e. one information station for each township, one information site for each village, one information library for each township and one information column for agricultural products, non-staples and special local products.
Presently, the three major operators are constructing and consummating their own fundamental rural information service platform in China to provide various agriculture-related information service businesses for farmers. A principal with China Mobile revealed that the Phase III expansion project of "Rural Information Network" is expected to finish within 2009, which will improve the service standards in Hainan province and other 12 western provinces, municipalities and cities, as well as perfect the capability to support the service in all of mid and eastern provinces and cities.
As understood, the three major operators will collaborate in establishing rural integrated information service platforms towards mid provinces and eastern provinces and cities respectively within the year, providing farmers with the information services suitable to them, such as voice consultation, short message service (SMS), coloring ring back tone (CRBT), E-mail and Internet websites, and encouraging various platforms to expand across China.
While reinforcing platform integration, the three major operators also associate with such computer manufacturers as LENOVO and FOUNDER to accelerate their own channel construction, by which they will provide farmers with training services and strengthen farmers' ability to use the Internet. Internet enterprises including Baidu are also sparing no efforts to provide farmers with such information services as e-business and information search that accord with their actual demands, and increasingly spread those services applied in cities towards the rural market. Driven by various parties, China's new village construction will benefit from the development of information and communications technology; at the same time, the communications industry will also has a broader development future through serving "agriculture, farmers and rural areas".
