China Cable and Communication Signs Agreement to Acquire A Fiber Optic Backbone Network Throughout China
June 14 2004 - 8:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
China Cable and Communication Signs Agreement to Acquire A Fiber
Optic Backbone Network Throughout China Acquisition Includes a Two
Core Fiber Optic Backbone Network Covering 410 Cities Nationwide
with a Total Physical Length of 34,800 Kilometers in China BEIJING,
June 14 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- China Cable and
Communication, Inc. (OTC:CCCI) (BULLETIN BOARD: CCCI) , a leading
China-based cable TV company, today announced it has entered into
an agreement to acquire, in a number of phases, from Beijing
Zhongminjing Technology Development Co., Ltd., through an arms
length commercial transaction, a two core fiber optic backbone
network covering 410 cities nationwide with a total physical length
of 34,800 kilometers (approx. 20,880 miles) in China. This backbone
network covers all 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, and 4
centrally administrative municipalities. Completion of this
transaction is subject to due diligence and third party
determination of the values upon which the purchase price will be
based. The total physical length of 34,800 kilometers optical fiber
was laid and passed the acceptance tests set out by the Ministry of
Information Industry ('MII') of the People's Republic of China in
November 2000. The acceptance license was issued by MII in the same
year. This fiber optics backbone network is not yet equipped with a
transmission and switching system. China Cable and Communication
will undertake, or will provide leases to service providers, to
fully equip systems for this backbone network in order to provide
support to a wide range of communication protocols and services
capabilities. The construction cost of the Network is estimated at
RMB2 billion (approx. US$235 million). The final contract purchase
price of this fiber optic backbone network will be based on the
appraised value determined by internationally renowned valuation
experts. Kaijun Yang, Chairman of the Board of China Cable
Communication said, 'While the undertakings in this transaction are
extensive, the fact is that upon consummation we are going to be a
fiber optics backbone provider in China. This is a significant deal
because we believe that we are talking about becoming one of the
largest and most important communication companies in China. That
makes the challenge road ahead of us in completing this transaction
very worthwhile,' explained Mr. Yang. China Cable and Communication
has also been selling 'Set Top' cable boxes in China. The fiber
optic backbone, added to the current business model, is intended to
put China Cable and Communication in a new league of convergent
players. 'We believe that we will not only be able to offer our
current service offerings through these channels, but that we will
be able to offer a host of emerging, future technologies,'
explained Mr. Yang. 'We also intend to lease the use of this
backbone to a wide range of content providers, including Voice over
IP (VoIP) companies, traditional telecommunication companies,
broadcast video companies, and high speed Internet companies.
Ultimately our goal will not to only lease out a portion of the
backbone bandwidth, but to work it out so our current subscriber
base can have access to these leased services as well.' With most
of the population of China spread out, and phone and cable services
not readily available to every citizen, it is critical that a
cable/communication company finish what has been started. While the
Company is at its infancy in market penetration, we believe that it
is already being viewed as a true pioneer of the convergent
communications and content delivery infrastructure of China. 'It's
critical for our shareholders to understand what it means to own a
backbone network like this. Content providers will have to lease
bandwidth like ours if they want to use a high-speed pipe. We think
it's like being AT&T in the United States. At one point in time
they weren't the largest telecommunications company either, but now
everyone knows who they are. We're not the largest company either,
but we don't think it's too bold of us to use AT&T as an
example of where we set our goals in terms of size and importance
of our role in the development in the nine billion dollar
telecommunications industry in China,' said Mr. Yang. 'It is with
this relationship we hope to begin to make China feel like a much
smaller country by giving all of our citizens the ability to
instantly connect with the rest of the country, and the world. It
appears to us that we're talking about nothing less than the
connectivity of China and the beginning of a massive technology
convergence in what we think is the most dynamic growth economy in
the world.' As an indication of what's going on in the world of
broadband convergence, TiVO recently announced it has plans to
bring streaming media from the internet to the house using its set
top box and technology, which is nearly ready for market. This will
give the consumer a broader choice of programming and will open up
the portals of convergence, using your TV as a form of
communication. 'This is the fourth electronic video service, and it
is an alternative to cable, satellite and broadcast television,'
said Tom Wolzien, an analyst at Bernstein Investment Research and
Management, in speaking about broadband convergence in general.
Those traditional services, Mr. Wolzien said, 'Have been the
monster gatekeepers, but this is a way for content providers to get
past them', added in Wolzien in again referring to broadband
convergence. Giants like Microsoft are also getting in the game.
They recently announced the formation of Microsoft TV as a new
company at the CES show in January 2004. 'We believe that Microsoft
TV's vision of this future is the same,' stated Mr. Yang. 'Converge
all of today's broadcasted video and audio content with all of
today's communications and delivery mechanisms, and pipe it right
into any type of set top receiver. Let the consumers decide where
and how they want to be entertained and informed. This is no longer
video-on- demand, or audio-on-demand. This is content-on-demand.
China Cable Communications is committed to bringing this future to
China. We intend to be the content-on-demand backbone for China."
Microsoft TV is running two small trials of the technology in
Canada and Switzerland, and sees a broad range of potential.
Whether Internet delivery of programming will be a serious threat
in the near future to traditional broadcasters remains a matter for
debate among industry executives. In any event, they also expect to
capitalize on the new technology. As Steve Burke, president of
Comcast Cable, the largest cable operator in the United States,
said recently in a phone interview, "We're big believers that the
Internet is the future." 'It's obvious what's happening in our
industry,' pointed out Mr. Yang, 'It appears to us that Microsoft
and Comcast and other pace-setting corporations believe that it is
possible to deliver broadcast quality television capable of
rivaling today's cable and satellite programming by using commonly
available standard telephone lines, as part of what are called
digital subscriber line, or DSL services, as well as with the
superior speed and bandwidth of fiber optic networks. It's
important to not lose sight of the names and types of companies
that are diligently researching and developing this technology
sector. Keep on eye on the players. We intend that our backbone
will be delivering their content,' concluded Mr. Yang. About China
International Telecommunication Construction Corporation China
International Telecommunication Construction Corporation (CITCC),
enjoying Class A qualification of prime-contract on Telecom
projects, is the largest and most comprehensive enterprise with
powerful engineering and hi- tech capability in the field of
Telecom engineering and constructions in China. It is one of the
nineteen largest construction enterprises nationwide, and also one
of the hundred strongest enterprises in the construction industry
across the country. About China Cable and Communication China Cable
and Communication, Inc. is a China-based cable TV company. Through
its British Virgin Island subsidiary, the Company is the first
foreign company to own and operate a cable television network in
China. Located 85 miles south of Beijing, the network currently
offers 39 channels within the Baoding city limits and eight
additional channels to outer areas in the Baoding metropolitan
area. It transmits in both analog and digital over its fiber optic
network and through 22 substations. With its fiber optic network,
Baoding network is capable of transmitting 37 analog television
programs, six digital signals and one FM music program. In addition
to its cable television transmission services, Baoding network
offers Internet access and value added services, such as broadband
Internet access and on-demand services through its proprietary
set-top boxes. China Cable and Communication is well positioned as
a foreign investor approved by The State Administration of Radio,
Film and Television ("SARFT"), China's national regulatory
authority for the broadcasting industry, to own interests in and
provide operational management support to cable television networks
in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The SARFT approval
together with the trading of CCCI's common stock in the US, provide
CCCI with a favorable advantage in access to foreign capital. China
Cable and Communication, Inc. trades in the United States, under
the ticker symbol CCCI, in order to provide U.S. investors with the
opportunity to invest in a company that owns interests in a PRC
cable television network. For more information, please visit
http://www.chinacable.us/ . The forward-looking statements
contained herein are subject to certain risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
reflected in the forward-looking statements. Some of these include,
but are not limited to, our availability of capital, political
occurrences and events in China, the terms of our 8% convertible
preferred stock, operations of the Baoding joint venture, demand
for the products of the Baoding joint venture, the economy of
China, and other factors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect
management's analysis only as of the date hereof. The Company
undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking
statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the
date hereof. Readers should carefully review the risks described in
other documents the Company files from time to time with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including Amendment No. 1 to
the Form SB-2 registration statement filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission on December 8, 2003, the Annual Report on Form
10-KSB for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2003, as well as the
Quarterly Reports and Current Reports on Form 8-K by the Company.
CONTACT: George Raney, Executive Director, China Cable &
Communication, Inc. Tel: +1-310-301-0082 DATASOURCE: China Cable
and Communication, Inc. Contact: George Raney, Executive Director,
China Cable & Communication, Inc., +1-310-301-0082 Web site:
http://www.chinacable.us/
Copyright