Rumor: MII, SARFT Merger Plan Underway

Sohu IT, 1/10/08

Informed sources have revealed that a high-level, central government team is currently working on a plan to merge the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) with the Ministry of Information Industry (MII). The plan would see SARFT and the MII merged with the State Council's Informatization Office to create a new organization similar to the National Telecommunications Regulatory Committee.

A source from within the MII stated that currently there is very strong demand for the merger. The source also revealed that recent changes at the MII were made based on the framework of the post-merger organization.

Another source from the MII's China Academy of Telecommunication Research (CATR) stated that information regarding the merger with SARFT was already circulating internally at the MII, but concrete details had not yet been made known.

An insider at Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture, Radio, Film and Television claimed that the merger is only a matter of time, and the plan for the merger is first to release joint documents, such as the recent "Regulations for Online Audio and Video Services", and then gradually divide responsibilities according to business function.

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