China's mobile users reach 416 million - Xinhua

China's mobile users reach 416 million - Xinhua
2006-05-21 23:31:17
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2006/05/chinas_mobile_users_reach_416_million_xinhua.php

From Xinhua:
The number of mobile phone subscribers in China hit a record 416 million at the end of April, the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) said on Sunday.

Statistics show that the number increased by 23.216 million in the first four months, more than twice the increase of fixed-line users. There are 55.7 million more mobile subscribers than fixed-line users.

2.6 Million wesbites registered in China

 BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The number of websites registered in China reached 2.6 million at the end of last year and 1.1 million of the websites are with ".CN" domain name.

    The websites increased by 40 percent in terms of number last year, said a report released by the Informationization Office under the State Council. The websites with the domain name of ".CN" increased by 154 percent in 2005, becoming the largest national domain name in Asia and the sixth in the world.

    The websites launched by companies constitute 60 percent, and those launched by individuals account for 21.9 percent, followed by websites on education and on government, the report said.

    The 2.6 million websites are mainly in Beijing, Shanghai, east China's Zhejiang and Fujian Provinces and south China's Guangdong Province. Enditem

http://news3.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-05/17/content_4557623.htm

China to Regulate Email Servers

From ITU News Service:
China has introduced regulations that make it illegal to run an email server without a licence. The new rules, which came into force two weeks ago, mean that most companies running their own email servers in China are now breaking the law. The new email licensing clause is just a small part of a new anti-spam law formulated by China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII).

The impact on corporate email servers, which are commonly used by companies with more than a handful of employees, appears to have gone unnoticed until now. However, Singapore-based technology consultant, James Seng, who first drew attention to the new email licence requirement, believes the inclusion of the prohibition on mail servers is no accident.

More information can be found here.

Asian countries slip in e-readiness rankings

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit's  annual e-readiness survey recently released,  most Asia Pacific countries have gone down in their e-readiness rankings. This year, only Hong Kong remains in the top 10.

For example, Singapore has   slipped from 7th to 13th place. According to Mr Denis McCauley, the director of global technology research at the Economist Intelligence Unit,  "The key areas in this category separating Singapore from the leaders are level of innovation, in terms of patents registered per capita, and educational level, in terms of mean years of schooling."

An IDA spokesman commented on this, stating that Singapore is taking steps to remain competitive, starting with the launch of Singapore's new 10-year Infocomm masterplan -- the Intelligent Nation 2015  that will be launched next month.

The slip in standing mirrors the overall slide of the Asia Pacific region (     with the exception of Korea and Japan ) and is said to be attributed to comparatively higher rates of growth in other regions, rather than a lack of progress in Asia itself.