SHANGHAI, February 23, SinoCast -- The digital terrestrial television (DTTV) network will cover all over China in three years, Jiang Wenbo, president of the Academy of Broadcasting Planning under the State Administration of Radio Film and Television of China (SARFT), said at a recent broadcasting forum.

Under the blueprint designed by the SARFT, China's top broadcasting authority, the network is composed of two phases. Firstly, both high-definition programs of China Central Television (CCTV), the nation's largest national television network, and standard-definition television (SDTV) programs are scheduled to be broadcast in 37 major cities across the country; and then, SDTV programs will be watched in its 333 cities and 2,861 counties.

The Chinese government has planned to spend CNY 2.5 billion on the network, the president added.

There is a TV user base of 400 million in China including 150 million urban cable TV users, pointed out Mr. Terry Lu, chairman of DVN Group, a Shanghai-based company engaged in digital TV's development, promotion, and application service. It means that China has a potential digital TV user base of 250 million.