Liu Liehong: To get rich, we must not only build roads, but also build information highways

[[398027]]

2021-05-08 09:07Focus, broadcast on the evening of May 7, told the story of the "information highway" built deep in the mountains. Liu Liehong, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said in an interview: "To get rich, we must first build roads. In the past, we built highways, but now we have to build information highways. Some people have concluded that mobile phones in rural areas have become new agricultural tools, live broadcasts have become new agricultural activities, and data have become new agricultural materials."

[[398028]]

Since 2015, the telecom universal service pilot has been organized and implemented for six consecutive years, supporting the construction of optical fiber networks in 130,000 administrative villages and 50,000 rural 4G base stations, one-third of which are deployed in poverty-stricken areas. With the strong support of local governments and relevant departments at all levels, and through the joint efforts of local communications administration bureaus and basic telecommunications companies, the proportion of administrative villages with optical fiber and 4G access has exceeded 99% nationwide. According to tests, the average download speed of pilot villages with optical fiber access has exceeded 100Mb/s, basically achieving "same network and same speed" in rural and urban areas, and significantly narrowing the "digital divide" between urban and rural areas. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the National Poverty Alleviation Summary and Commendation Conference that problems such as communication difficulties in poverty-stricken areas have been historically resolved.

With the Internet, rural areas can get new information and new technologies as soon as possible and share the digital dividends, just like cities. E-commerce and live streaming have flourished in rural areas, and the sales channels of agricultural products have also been broadened. With the help of telemedicine systems, the service capabilities of primary medical institutions have been effectively improved. All primary and secondary schools in the country have been connected to broadband. With an Internet cable and a screen, rural students can share high-quality educational resources, and remote schools can offer a full range of courses.

It is reported that the seventh batch of telecommunications universal service tasks is being deployed this year, and a 4G base station blind spot action is being carried out. It is expected to support the construction of 10,000 4G base stations in rural and remote areas, and promote the gradual extension of broadband networks to key areas such as rural population settlements, production operation areas, and along major transportation routes. By the end of this year, the number of administrative villages without broadband access will be dynamically cleared, allowing the vast rural population to share the fruits of Internet development with urban residents.