China will spend more than $182 billion to boost Internet Speed by the end of 2017, a top government body said, as Bejing moves rowards a more service-driven economy to boost growth. The state council said the government will invest more than 430 billion yuan ($69.3 billion/0 this year on network construction, with at least another 700 billion yuan ($112 billion) spent over the following two years.
The goal is to accelerate the development of fiber optic broadband and high speed 4G Mobile networks, the government body said on its website. China ranked 82 in the world for average internet speed, slower than Malayasia, Thailand and Taiwan, according to cloud computing service provider Akamai`s State of the Internet report for the fourth quarter of 2014. Improving that standing is crusial foe the world`s second largest economy, which is experiencing the slowest growth in decades and is seeking to diversify away from low-tech manufacturing and development.
