Chengdu Wan Chuan Company, the construction team of Tibet Telecom, is setting up a new communication pole in Kenken Village, Medog County, Linzhi City, and opening an optical fiber network for Kenken Village. On rainy days, the road is slippery, and Kenken Village is located on a high mountain cliff, so the construction environment is very dangerous.
Construction personnel of China Mobile Tibet Company braved the gale of magnitude 7 or 8 to debug equipment on the communication pole of Pula Village, Luoma Town, Naqu City.
After Tibet Telecom opened fiber-optic broadband to Laba Tsering, a villager in Kenken Village, Medog County, Linzhi City, the whole family took their mobile phones to connect to the Internet with WiFi signals. Their family also sells Medog stone pot online.
Economic Daily China Economic Net reporter Huang Xin
Core tips
In December 2015, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology launched the pilot project of universal telecommunications service, which proposed that by 2020, 98% of administrative villages would be connected with optical fiber and 98% with 4G communication signals. What is the progress of the pilot construction of telecom universal service?
The reporter’s investigation in Tibet, which has the highest altitude and the worst natural conditions, found that the construction conditions of telecom infrastructure here are extremely difficult, and the network construction period is long. At the same time, due to the small revenue and huge maintenance cost, it faces greater financial pressure. Fortunately, the network has effectively narrowed the digital divide, provided the basic conditions for "accurate poverty alleviation in internet plus" and opened up the "last mile" of information poverty alleviation.
The annual "May 17th World Telecommunication and Information Society Day" includes "sharing" no matter how the theme changes. Adhering to the purpose of sharing, since December 2015, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have launched a pilot project of universal telecommunications service to promote the construction and development of broadband networks in administrative villages without broadband access. The goal is to achieve 98% administrative villages with optical fiber and 98% administrative villages with 4G communication signals by 2020.
"At present, three batches of pilot central financial subsidies and basic telecommunications enterprises have invested more than 40 billion yuan to support more than 130,000 administrative villages to connect optical fibers." According to Wen Ku, director of the Information and Communication Development Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as of the end of March, the completion rate of the first two batches of 101,000 pilot administrative villages has exceeded 99%, and the third batch of 32,000 administrative villages is accelerating construction; The proportion of administrative villages in China has reached 95%, and it is expected that the goal of 98% administrative villages connecting with optical fibers proposed by the national "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" will be achieved ahead of schedule by the end of this year.
At present, what is the progress of the pilot construction process of telecom universal service? What problems have you encountered? The Economic Daily reporter recently followed the relevant personnel of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to conduct in-depth research in poor rural areas in Tibet. Tibet can be said to be one of the hardest areas in the national pilot of universal telecommunications service. Tibet is the only provincial-level concentrated contiguous poverty-stricken area in China, with low per capita income, high altitude, frequent rain and snow, and backward transportation and power generation conditions, which makes communication construction difficult and high maintenance cost in the later period. Tibet’s telecom universal service has a demonstration and reference significance in the whole country.
The construction conditions are extremely difficult.
Tibet has a high altitude, frequent rain and snow, frequent road collapses or blockages, extremely difficult construction conditions and a long network construction period.
The road to Medog is known as "Medog Road of Life and Death". The world only knows that Shu Dao is difficult, but it is even more difficult to enter Medog. Because it is located in the Himalayan fault zone and the Medog fault zone, the 140 km distance from Bomi to Medog is full of frequent geological activities, and natural disasters such as earthquakes, landslides and mudslides may occur at any time, and the road surface is muddy and bumpy. The distance from Medog main road to Kenken village in Bangxing township is 35 kilometers, which is even more winding and dangerous.
The reporter’s interview in Kenken Village, Bangxing Township, Medog County coincided with a rainy day, with cliffs on one side and abyss on the other. It was really walking on thin ice. Under such natural conditions, Chengdu Wan Chuan Company, the construction team of China Telecom, is setting up a new communication pole in Kenken Village to open an optical fiber network for Kenken Village.
"The road here is not easy to walk, and cars can’t get in. Many materials and equipment have to be carried by people. It rains most of the time from April to October every year, and there are many leeches and snakes in the forest, which has a certain impact on the construction progress. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the project, we must work overtime on the premise of ensuring safety. " Li Benjun, a technician of Chengdu Wan Chuan Communication Engineering Co., Ltd., said.
The difficulties encountered in connecting optical fibers in remote rural areas of Tibet are far more than these. Gombudoji, deputy director of Tibet Communications Administration, told reporters that Tibet is high in altitude and difficult to construct, and many construction units are reluctant to go to Tibet for construction. At the same time, frequent rain and snow often lead to road collapse or blockage, and the network construction cycle is long.
Pula Village, located in Luoma Town, Naqu City, with an average elevation of more than 4,700 meters, is cold and oxygen-deficient, with a vast territory and few people. At the communication construction site in Pula village, the reporter saw another difficult scene different from Medog: because the altitude exceeded 4,700 meters, the communication construction workers had headaches and tinnitus, but they had to climb to the communication pole for equipment debugging. There is still a strong wind of seven or eight here, and the construction workers should tie themselves with ropes to prevent them from falling off the poles.
"In Tibet, China Mobile has the largest number and the widest scope of telecom universal service villages, and the construction conditions are extremely difficult." Tenzin Junmei, manager of the Engineering Construction Center of China Mobile Tibet Company, said that in 2017, China Mobile Tibet Company invested a total of 827 million yuan to build 13,000 kilometers of new optical cables, and completed the construction of universal telecom services in 1,786 administrative villages in four cities of Xigaze, Shannan, Qamdo and Naqu, accounting for more than 57% of the administrative villages in the region. Most of these administrative villages are located in extremely remote and extremely cold areas, with an average altitude of more than 4,700 meters, an average annual temperature of MINUS 15 degrees Celsius, and a perennial wind force of more than 6, and individual administrative villages have an altitude of more than 5,300 meters.
For example, Tenzin Junmei said that in the construction process, the most difficult thing is the construction of universal telecommunications services in villages in Naqu City. The frozen soil layer of Qiangtang grassland is more than 1 meter deep, and only cow dung can be used to melt the frozen soil and bulldozers can the communication poles be implanted.
Under such difficult conditions, according to Kampot Dorje, at present, 3044 of the 3126 pilot administrative villages in the first and second batches of universal service work of Tibet Telecom have been completed, and 82 pilot administrative villages cannot be built due to relocation and road impassability. The third batch of projects involves 2084 administrative villages and is currently in the construction stage. It is expected that the construction and acceptance will be fully completed by the end of 2018. After the completion of the three pilot projects of universal telecommunications service, Xizang Autonomous Region will, together with the whole country, realize that 98% of administrative villages will be connected with optical cables and 100% with broadband.
"It is precisely because of this difficulty that the pilot of universal telecommunications service in Tibet is more exemplary." Wen Ku said that in the pilot project of universal telecommunications service, the focus has been on accelerating the process of broadband access for poor villages. At present, three batches of pilot projects have supported 43,000 poverty-stricken villages to access optical fiber, which has achieved the goal of "broadband network covering more than 90% poverty-stricken villages" put forward in China’s "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for Poverty Alleviation" ahead of schedule.
The investment in human and financial resources far exceeds the income.
The revenue of telecom service users in Tibet is small, and the maintenance cost is huge. In addition to subsidies, operators need to adopt internal cross-subsidies to maintain it.
On May 9, despite the heavy rain, the door of Raba Tsering’s home in Kenken village was surrounded by villagers. At 3: 40 p.m., the telecom staff in the house operated the communication equipment they brought and told Raba Tsering that "the network has been connected".
The reporter learned that the monthly price of telecom broadband package in the city with the same specification is 199 yuan, while Raba Tsering only needs to spend 79 yuan. Similarly, in Naqu area, China Mobile has provided an exclusive tariff for the pilot project of universal telecom service, and the maximum monthly consumption of 48 yuan can enjoy 50M fiber-optic broadband and high-definition digital TV. According to statistics, in order to ensure that local herders can use and afford broadband, China Mobile Tibet Company has launched a special tariff for universal telecommunications service according to the actual situation of each city. For poor households and low-income herders, the overall charge is only 50% of the average market price.
Although the price is half cheaper, the network speed is not discounted. Taking China Mobile Tibet Company as an example, in 1786 administrative villages in Shigatse, Shannan, Qamdo and Naqu, which are supported by telecom universal service, the average network access rate reaches 50M, which is higher than the 12M standard required by Xizang Autonomous Region government.
This is the significance of telecom universal service — — Let anyone enjoy telecommunications services at an affordable price anywhere. However, behind these preferential policies, a lot of financial support is needed.
In order to promote the universal service of telecommunications, in addition to the partial compensation funds provided by the state, operators also need to adopt internal cross-subsidies to solve the problem that the investment far exceeds the return. According to Feng Wenyong, Party Secretary and Director of Tibet Communications Administration, at present, there are 5,210 administrative villages in Tibet, with a planned total investment of about 3 billion yuan, of which the Ministry of Finance has issued a total subsidy of 853 million yuan, and the winning bidders have raised about 2.147 billion yuan.
On the one hand, it is difficult for communication enterprises to rely on the business income of telecom universal service users to support costs. Kampot Dorje said frankly that Tibet is the only provincial-level concentrated contiguous poverty-stricken area in China, and it is also a border minority area. The poverty alleviation channel in agricultural and pastoral areas is relatively single, the per capita income level is low, and the user demand is low, which leads to the difficulty in the development of broadband users and the low revenue efficiency of enterprises after the completion of this project.
On the other hand, "it is difficult to build a network and it is more difficult to maintain it. For example, in Kenken Village, we concentrate our efforts and resources to build the network in a month or two. However, under such natural conditions, it is very difficult to maintain the network and we need to continuously invest money. " Nima Dunzhu, deputy general manager of China Telecom Tibet Company, said.
On the way to Kenken Village, the reporter met Yan Fengqin, an employee of Medog Station of Linzhi Telecom Transmission Bureau, who was inspecting communication optical cable equipment in the forest. In order to prevent the bite of leeches, snakes, etc., his trouser legs are tied tightly with socks. This is nothing to Yan Fengqin, who is more worried about the occurrence of natural disasters such as mudslides or flash floods that affect life safety.
Nima Dunzhu calculated an account for the reporter: Taking Kenken Village as an example, the construction cost of optical cable lines and equipment investment reached nearly 2 million yuan. The maintenance cost of ordinary villages needs 100,000 yuan a year, but Kenken Village is far more than that. There are only 29 households in the village, and even if all broadband services are opened, the annual income is only nearly 30,000 yuan. Because of the unstable power supply, China Telecom has to generate electricity by itself to ensure the smooth network, so it also bears a lot of power generation costs.
"There are many places in Medog where there are dense forests and it often rains. It is not feasible for us to generate electricity through solar energy." Gombudoji said that by 2020, there are still 12 counties in Tibet that can’t access the national grid, and there are more than 500 administrative villages in the 3044 pilot administrative villages with universal telecommunications service that have completed the construction task, which can’t meet the equipment operation requirements of the project.
Co-construction and sharing to reduce costs
Operators realize the open sharing of power towers and communication towers through cooperation with power grids and railways, and at the same time strengthen the synchronous design and construction of communication lines with high-speed rail lines.
It is precisely because the investment in telecom universal service far exceeds the return that all countries in the world have set up special fund subsidies, and China is no exception. It is understood that the subsidy scale of China’s universal service fund is based on the input cost of telecom universal service in sub-regions recognized by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Finance, and the eastern, central, western and autonomous provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) subsidize according to 15%, 20%, 30% and 35% of their base respectively, and carry out according to the idea of "central fund guidance, local coordination support and enterprise-oriented promotion".
The reporter also learned in the investigation that the central funds have taken into account the later maintenance costs when subsidizing. At the same time, some local governments will also give different financial support.
"We also saw in the process of implementing the universal service of telecommunications that there were not many people applying for broadband services in some administrative villages at first, but after the opening of the network, the number of applications for broadband services increased, and the telecom operators responsible for construction could achieve balance of payments and even profit." Wen Ku said.
Nevertheless, in practice, telecom operators still feel that the construction and follow-up maintenance funds of telecom universal service exceed expectations. With the development of communication technology, telecom operators are actively reducing the cost of telecom services through co-construction and sharing. In the survey, the reporter saw that a telecom operator will leave a channel for other telecom operators when building a communication pole. At the same time, with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, operators are also strengthening cooperation with power grids and railways to realize the open sharing of power towers and communication towers, and the synchronous design and construction of communication lines and high-speed rail lines.
It is under such persistence that broadband networks can quickly enter poor areas, effectively narrowing the digital divide, providing the basic conditions for "accurate poverty alleviation in internet plus" and opening up the "last mile" of information poverty alleviation.
Medog Stone Pot is famous far and near. "With the optical fiber network, we can put the stone pot online to sell, and we can also get in touch with people outside and understand the outside world." Raba Tsering, who just opened an optical fiber network at home, said.
In the home of Bianbazaxi, a villager in Pula village, he happily introduced the information and communication products at home and sent his newly-made Tibetan clothes to his circle of friends. Sales of Tibetan clothes at home have doubled since broadband was connected at home.
Rural tourism and characteristic industries have also been gradually promoted. Take Kenken Village as an example, the local area has vigorously developed characteristic industries to the outside world through the network platform, and expanded the ways for farmers and herdsmen to increase their income and get rich. Hong Weidong, secretary of the Party branch of Kenken Village, said that during the slack season, they would sell local specialties to customers thousands of kilometers away through the Internet. China Mobile’s 100M fiber-optic broadband has been connected to Pula Village, which not only provides convenient and efficient information life for the whole village, but also effectively broadens the sales of yak meat, yogurt and other special agricultural and livestock products in the village.
"We encourage basic telecommunications companies to introduce preferential network tariffs for poor areas and poor people, and promote the widespread use of broadband networks in poor areas. Support broadband network access to schools, clinics, village committees, etc., and cooperate with relevant departments to promote information construction in education, medical care, e-commerce, etc. We hope that this will drive the poor to increase their income and become rich and promote the equalization of basic public services in rural areas. " Wen Ku said.
Wen Ku revealed that it will continue to accelerate the pace of high-speed broadband access to the village. All 43,000 poverty-stricken villages in the three batches of pilot projects to promote universal telecommunications services will be completed by the end of this year, and the pilot projects of universal telecommunications services will continue to be deepened, with emphasis on supporting the coverage of 4G networks in remote rural areas. The poverty-stricken villages that still do not have access to broadband will be investigated and accounts will be established, giving priority to the scope of support. On the basis of completing the basic goal of broadband access to 90% of poor villages, efforts will be made to increase the coverage rate to over 98%.
