The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) recently disclosed that in 2008, a total of 12.2 billion yuan (RMB) was invested in the project to connect every village by telephone. The same below), the annual targets of the project have been achieved as a whole.
     According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, 30,124 natural villages (more than 20 households, the same below) without telephone communication facilities have been completed in the year. The proportion of telephone calls in natural villages reaches 92.4 percent nationwide, and all natural villages in 8 provinces have telephone calls.
     Telephone calls in administrative villages: In 2008, telephone calls were completed in 641 remote administrative villages in Sichuan and 681 remote administrative villages in Tibet, increasing the proportion of telephone calls in administrative villages to 99.7 percent of the total. In addition, telephone lines have been opened for 952 companies of the Agricultural Reclamation Corps, agricultural farms and mines in Xinjiang and Heilongjiang provinces.
     Internet development in rural areas: Internet access will be provided to 431 towns and townships this year, and broadband access will be provided to 409 towns and townships, making 97 percent of the country's towns and townships now have Internet access and 95 percent have broadband access. Internet access has become a reality in 27 provinces. At the same time, 12,103 administrative villages were connected to the Internet within the year, accounting for 88 percent of the country's administrative villages, and 17 provinces have basically realized that all administrative villages have Internet access.
     At the same time, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology pointed out that the village access project contributed to stimulating domestic demand. In 2008, 12.2 billion yuan was invested in the construction of the project, more than 99.5% of which was used in the domestic market, and less than 60 million yuan was used for the import of equipment. The majority of domestic equipment manufacturers have actively developed low-cost, practical information and communication products suitable for rural characteristics, such as SCDMA wireless access system, broadband set top box, rural information machine, "diandian", cheap computers and mobile phones, etc. This not only meets rural needs, but also creates opportunities for manufacturing to withstand the current economic crisis, while reducing the cost of construction for operating companies.