China’s Internet to get cheaper, faster

Premier Li's remarks prompt industry to chart steps to boost speed and reduce fees.

李克强总理的话促进了行业加快提高网速，降低网费的步伐。

China is likely to cut mobile Internet service charges and increase traffic speeds, industry experts said on Thursday after Premier Li Keqiang's comments on the expensive, mediocre-in-speed service spurred heated discussion.

在李克强总理评论网络费用高但速度慢并引发激烈讨论后，上周四，业内专家表示，中国很可能会削减移动互联网的服务费用，并增加流量速度。

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the industry regulator, has pledged to find ways to lower prices of the fourth-generation telecom services, which were put into use less than two years ago.

作为该行业监管部门，工信部已经承诺将想方设法降低第四代电信服务的费用。第四代电信服务投入使用还不到两年。

 "The construction of the 4G network and speed enhancement will be the main focus for this year and we are committed to provide a faster network at lower expense," the ministry said.

该部门称：“建设4G网络和提升网速将是今年的重点，我们致力于用较低的费用提供更快的网络”。

In a meeting with entrepreneurs and economists on Tuesday, Li flayed China's mobile Internet services and said smartphone users would ask for free Wi-Fi connections as the mobile Internet services are "too expensive".

周二，在一个企业家和经济学家会议上，李克强总理指出，中国的智能手机用户要求使用免费的Wi-Fi，是因为流量费用太高了。

It is difficult to imagine how underdeveloped our information infrastructure is," he told the meeting at one point.

他在会议上说，“很难想象我们的信息基础设备是多么地落后。”

 Xiang Ligang, a telecom researcher and founder of industry website cctime.com, said the average mobile connection speed in large and medium-sized Chinese cities are no worse than that of the United States and Western Europe. Poor 4G services in less developed small towns and rural areas have, however, dragged down the overall speed. 

电信研究员和飞象网的创始人项立刚说，中国大中城市手机网络的平均速度不会比美国和西欧差，是欠发达小城镇和农村地区的4G服务拖慢了整体的网速。

The worldwide average Internet connection speed was 4.5 megabytes per second at the end of 2014 while the speed in China was 3.4 mbps, which ranked the country 82nd globally, according to Internet service provider Akamai Technologies.

2014年底，全球互联网的平均连接速度为每秒4.5兆，而中国的速度为每秒3.4 兆，根据互联网服务提供商Akamai Technologies公司提供的数据来看，中国排在了全球第82位。

The country with the fastest Internet connection was South Korea, whose average speed exceeded 22 mbps, according to the company.

网络连接速度最快的国家是韩国。

Industry players have an ambitious plan to lift mobile Internet connections in the country, the world's largest smartphone nation. China's three telecom carriers are pushing 4G services to smaller cities and trying to attract more lower-end 4G users.

中国拥有世界上最多的智能手机用户，理应负起这样的使命——提升网速。中国的三大电信运营商正在小城市推广4G服务，以吸引更多的低端用户。