China Stops Using Old Technologies Like Fax Machines And Wireless Pagers

JAKARTA – China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has taken steps to end the use of old or obsolete technology, such as fax machines, wireless pagers, and others.

In the announcement, MIIT said it would stop issuing network access permits to a number of technologies, such as fixed telephone terminals, cordless terminals, group telephones, fax machines, modems (including cards), wireless pagers, and many other categories that would be affected.

This move will only leave room for newer tools such as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), which is a communication technology with a method of transmitting voice, audio, and other content such as images and video using an internet connection.

The policy change doesn't seem to mean existing tools can't connect to Chinese networks, just that MIIT isn't interested in new products using old communications technology.

However, newer technologies will be required to comply with the latest standards. While this may not affect users in the short term, the rule is a forerunner of where China plans to move away from ancient technology.

What this means is that this move represents an expensive future for any company still using products like fax machines, and they may need to invest in upgrading assets.

MIIT promises to deal with new network access permission applications submitted by companies within 15 working days, helping the introduction of new technology to be more efficient.

The new measures will go into effect on March 1, 2023, as the world's second-largest economy (and one of the fastest-growing) invests in the technology of the future.

Elsewhere, Beijing is also claimed to have built a 1,000-server blockchain cluster capable of handling 240 million smart contract transactions per second in a bid to better process an unimaginable amount of citizen data.