Southern Media, China 's first provincial-wide media group serving in Guangdong Province , has obtained the nation's third IPTV TV license for operation across the country, a company official said.
In April 2005, Shanghai Media Group got the first IPTV license, and one year later the Internet operation of China Central Television also received such a license.
With the accelerated popularity of IPTV in China, the country's media administration has recently granted 10 more cities to build up IPTV networks and provide related services, all under the business coverage of Shanghai Media Group.
The country's two major fixed-line telecom carriers, China Telecom and China Netcom, will go into partnership with Shanghai Media Group in the IPTV projects in these cities.
Specifically, the northeastern cities of Shenyang, Dalian, Panjin, Hehe and Mudanjiang, will be in the partnered operation of China Netcom; while China Telecom will cooperate for projects in southeastern cities of Taizhou, Fuzhou and Xiamen, as well as Xi'an and Hanzhong cities of northwestern Shaanxi Province .