The country's largest fixed-line company, China Telecom Corp, and Shanghai Media Group (SMG) launched a joint Internet TV service Friday, as companies in China's maturing telecom market forage into Web-based areas.

BesTV, the Internet Protocol Television service - TV sent over telecom networks using Internet protocol - may reach 80,000 to 100,000 households by the end of 2006, BesTV chief operating officer Li Huaiyu said on the sidelines of the launch.

Shanghai Media Group is the first company in China to receive a license from the Central Government to run IPTV.

With growth slowing in China's telecom market, the world's biggest with 360 million fixed-line and 430 million mobile users, China Telecom and rival China Netcom Group Corp. are looking to newer, non-voice services.

Both companies have spent large sums upgrading their networks for the deployment of high-speed data services, including broadband Internet and IPTV.

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