Beijing Youth Daily:

The issue of repeated television charges has always been of great concern to all. The NRTA has started a rectification campaign regarding this issue. Could you please detail the plans for the campaign and how the work is progressing? Thank you.

Cao Shumin:

Thank you for your questions. It's indeed an issue of great concern to all. Mr. Yang will answer these questions.

Yang Guorui:

I will answer your questions. Both the central government and the people are highly concerned about the rectification campaign against the issue of repeated television charges. The NRTA thoroughly implements a people-centered governance philosophy, makes a resolute decision, and harnesses the strength of the entire industry to address the issue as a mandatory initiative, a heartfelt project, and a systematic endeavor. At present, we have formed three major systems: cable TV transmitted through cable TV networks, IPTV transmitted through the private network of telecom operators, and the OTT TV transmitted through the internet. On the one hand, this has greatly satisfied the diverse needs of the people. On the other hand, it has caused the issue of repeated charges due to the involvement of various kinds of market players and brought trouble to the people.

We have recently established a working group to address outstanding issues of strong public concern, such as the excessive number of subscription options, the diversity of fee-charging entities, and the lack of transparency in charges. The working group has inspected all seven OTT TV integration platforms, 22 TV manufacturers, and IPTV and cable TV services in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. Nearly 10,000 subscribers have completed a questionnaire. We have been in communication with relevant departments, including the Cyber Administration of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the China Consumers Association, while also listening to the opinions of all parties involved in the industry chain and considering their advice. Based on the information collected, we aim to address these issues through overall planning, starting with easy tasks and then moving to difficult ones, with each step forward led by pilot programs. And this work will be completed through three stages:

In the first stage, we will gradually reduce the number of subscription options by 40% and enhance transparency for consumers within the year. In the second stage, we will set norms for TV services and charges in the first half of next year. In the third stage, we will enhance the long-term management mechanism for three major business systems, including cable TV, IPTV, and OTT by the end of next year, to effectively prevent repeated and irregular charges and their resurgence.

Currently, we have launched our first-stage work and selected seven pilot units, including Beijing Gehua CATV Network, Shandong Network, Shanghai Branch of China Mobile, Guangdong Branch of China Telecom, Jilin Branch of China Unicom, Xiaomi TV, and Hisense TV, all of which are involved in the three major business systems. We have provided guidance and facilitated the implementation of concrete measures in these enterprises to reduce or combine subscription options, enhance subscription management pages, and improve the free-of-charge section. Among these, Gehua CATV has reduced 14 options to five, while Guangdong Telecom IPTV has reduced the original 10 film and TV subscription options to just one. New Xiaomi TV sets and Hisense TV sets no longer come preloaded with pre-installed APKs.

We anticipate that by the end of October, the pilot units will have reduced subscription options by more than 40%. In November and December, we will launch a nationwide campaign to achieve an overall 40% reduction, effectively preventing repeated and irregular charges. Moving forward, we welcome everyone to actively participate, tune in to their TVs, and monitor our efforts.

Thanks.