China likely to lead world in all-pervasive tech convergence
- Source: Global Times
- [20:42 January 31 2010]
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By Harvey Dzodin
I once got very excited about a technology I was certain would be a huge success: WebTV.
This was back in the Dark Ages of the Internet era, circa 1996, when high speed broadband was a dream and dial-up connections as slow as Manhattan traffic at rush hour were the norm.
WebTV permitted users to access the Internet via their TV sets. It was designed to allow viewers to click on an icon to get information from an advertiser and make a purchase.
Bill Gates must have agreed with me as he beat me to the punch and bought the company for about half a billion dollars. Shows what I knew! WebTV, also known as MSN TV, was not one of Microsoft's most stellar investments. But some great ideas, like this one, fail because their time has not yet come.
Experts have been talking about media convergence for more than three decades now, but it hasn't happened in any significant way yet. That seems certain to change and China is poised to take the lead.
Convergence is the ability to access the power of technology anytime and anywhere. It means the marriage of computers, consumer electronics and telecommunications.
At the just-concluded Consumer Electronics Show in early January, Samsung demonstrated a convergence-enabled home that was electronically linked together and through which appliances and utilities could be controlled from anywhere in cyberspace.
At about the same time, companies have started taking advantage of data mining of user preferences gleaned from the Internet and other sources, and using the location-sensing technology built-in to many mobile phones.
Japanese company Dentsu announced that they will begin a coupon service that offers discounts to consumers via their phones as they pass by shops and other locations.
The Chinese government's recent announcement should take convergence to the next level. Premier Wen Jiabao said in a State Council executive meeting on January 13 that the convergence of telecom, broadcasting and Internet networks will be speeded up.
Wen said that China is ready for this, given its existing technology, network infrastructure and market potential.
With convergence, consumers will be able to surf the Net, make calls and watch videos through a single network.
From 2010 to 2012, the project will be test-marketed in some cities, before being implemented nationally from 2013 to 2015. It's an ambitious project, but China has the wherewithal to pull it off.
One sure sign is that just after the new policy was announced, Shenzhen Media Group launched a new media platform that integrates its Internet, mobile phone and digital TV business.
Chinese society will not only benefit from increased connectivity, but from increased competition resulting in higher quality, more robust offerings at lower prices. Now only a few broadcasters like CCTV are licensed for both video production and transmission.
Under the new model, some broadcasters will be allowed to operate telecom and Internet services. Near-monopolies, like CCTV, will become oligopolies, and may have to actually compete.
While convergence will happen everywhere, the new policy puts China in a leading position. One reason that other places may not be as fully converged is that the various components, governments, private companies, and so on, operate independently of each other.
Say what you want about the Chinese system, good, bad or indifferent, but the fact is the model allows swift policy implementation.
I do have a few serious caveats to add.
A more converged media model means the potential for even greater governmental control over a wide range of information sources.
A second related issue is data-mining. Increased convergence means more information can be gathered, raising serious concerns of invasions of privacy.
The benefits of convergence may be numerous. But China, and the rest of us, need to carefully draw the line about what information can be harvested in this brave new technological age.
The author is former director and vice president at ABC Television. hdzodin@hotmail.com
