[A woman looks at an ad promoting a broadband package in Beijing in this file photo. [File Photo: CFP/Zhang Peng]]

Broadband subscribers in China can expect better services and probably lower fees as the government is launching a pilot program which will allow privately held companies to enter the country's broadband access market.

Sixteen cities including Shanghai and Guangzhou have been selected for the 3-year program beginning on March 1, 2015.

Private companies in these cities can apply for the program to either directly construct broadband infrastructure, or rent resources to operate as service providers.

After about three weeks soliciting public opinions, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the plan on Thursday, December 25.

The Ministry hopes the move will stimulate healthy competition in the country's telecommunications industry, and eventually enhance infrastructure construction and broadband services.

Currently, China's broadband market is dominated by three state-owned telecoms operators - China Unicom, China Telecom, and China Mobile.

In 2011, media reports surfaced that China Unicom and China Telecom were embroiled in antitrust investigations for alleged abuse of dominance in the broadband market.

The 16 Chinese cities selected for the pilot program are:

Taiyuan, Shenyang, Harbin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Xiamen, Qingdao, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Changsha, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chongqing, and Chengdu.