by From July 20 to at least the end of August, telecom operators are not allowed to change existing equipment or add new equipment to their networks.
Telecom equipment manufacturers may be affected to some extent by the suspension because they will not be able to install equipment, even if it has already been delivered.
Shanghai. July 22. INTERFAX-CHINA - Chinese telecom operators recently suspended network upgrades and equipment installations in order to ensure stable services during the Beijing Olympic Games, with some operators planning to continue the moratorium until the Beijing Paralympics finishes in the latter half of September, sources said this week.
"From July 20 to at least the end of August, telecom operators are not allowed to change existing equipment or add new equipment to their networks. This will not affect existing telecom subscribers," a source from Shanghai Mobile, China Mobile Communications Corp.'s Shanghai Municipality subsidiary, told Interfax.
Beijing has ordered the moratorium in order to ensure stable services during the Beijing Olympics because "not making any changes to the network is the best way to ensure stability," said the source, who wished to remain anonymous.
An official from Jiangsu Telecom, China Telecommunications Corp.'s Jiangsu Province subsidiary, who also wished to remain anonymous, said that the moratorium is nationwide.
"The entire China Telecom group will carry on the suspension until the end of the Beijing Paralympics. Other telecom operators may have different schedules," he said.
Both sources said that this kind of network moratorium is a normal practice, and has been carried out every year during the annual sessions of the National People's Congress, National Day and Chinese New Year holidays, and the Ninth Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders Meeting held in Shanghai in October 2001.
"This suspension is just longer than previous ones, which were one week at most," the Shanghai Mobile source said.
A sales agent with China Network Communications Corp.'s corporate telephone and broadband services department in Shanghai told Interfax that the suspension may slow the installation of new telephone and broadband services for corporate customers.
"In buildings that already have telephone, fiber and power wiring, there will probably be no problem if a company wants to install telephone or broadband services. However, the installation of new wiring to an entire building will be suspended," he said.
He also said he expects new subscriptions to be processed more slowly during the suspension period.
Meanwhile, Zhuang Li, a public relations official from China Telecom's Shanghai subsidiary, told Interfax that Shanghai Telecom asked corporate customers to inform it of any special needs before the suspension took effect, and that "residential customers will not be affected".
"Companies that have their servers hosted at Shanghai Telecom's Internet data centers will have some restrictions if they want to enter the Internet data centers during the suspension period," Zhuang said, but refused to specify the restrictions.
The source from Jiangsu Telecom said that stricter security checks will be carried out for people entering the Internet data centers, "just like at airports".
The Shanghai Mobile source said that telecom equipment manufacturers may be affected to some extent by the suspension because "they will not be able to install the equipment, even if it has already been delivered."
"We will not provide services such as network upgrades and equipment installation to telecom operators during this period. We do not expect our business to be affected significantly by the suspension," an official from the Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer ZTE Corp. told Interfax.
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