The PRC Telecommunications Regulations and the Classification of Telecommunications Services are the main building blocks of regulation in the country - but they came into place 13 and 10 years ago, respectively. Under the present consultation, interested parties are being asked by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to consider if there should be an extension.

Explosive growth

The  measures were drafted in response to the explosive growth in the Chinese OTT (Over-the-Top) market and the traditional telecom carriers’ concerns regarding new revolutionary applications such as WeChat, QQ and Netflix.’ Disputes have broken out Tencent and China Mobile, with the latter claiming that congestion has been caused on its network by WeChat, owned by Tencent, occupying some of its broadband space. The new proposals would create a balance between and dispute resolution mechanism for the new generation of telecommunications and social media providers and traditional telecom carriers.