Major telecom companies in Beijing are launching plans to raise the speed of their Internet services, with China Unicom aiming to top 20 Megabytes per second (Mbps) before the end of 2012.

Currently, there are four major Internet service providers in Beijing: China Unicom, China Telecom, China Mobile and Gehua CATV Network.

Hotline operators from the four companies said most customers use Internet services at speeds of 1-2Mbps.

China Telecom has also said it would increase speeds to above 4Mbps around the country before the end of 2010 - in some first-tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai, they aim to reach 20Mbps in newly-built communities.

And while Internet service provider China Unicom didn't release a specific goal for its rate, the company noted it has invested 15 billion yuan in renovating existing copper fiber cables and laying optical fiber alternatives since 2008.

Despite the promises, China's Internet connection speeds are dragging behind neighboring counties.

"Connection speed is a bottleneck for Internet-related businesses," Wu Hequan, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said at the China Internet Conference 2009. He noted China's average bit transfer rate was only 1.8Mbps, less than one-10th of South Korea's and 50 times slower than Japan.

According to Sun Kangmin, the deputy general manager of China Telecom, most Chinese cities have the infrastructure in place to provide Internet speeds of 4Mbps, with large cities like Beijing and Shanghai capable of 100Mbps after an optical fiber project is completed in one or two years.

"Compared with copper fiber technology, optical fibers can carry much more information and also resist electromagnetic interference, which disrupts and slows transfers," Zhen Zhen, a research fellow from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told METRO.

However, while the advanced technology can allow high-resolution streaming and real-time games, its costs are frightening some potential customers away.

According to China Unicom, a 4Mbps Internet connection costs 2,580 yuan annually. The fee jumps almost proportionally to a change in speed, with 8Mbps reaching 4,980 yuan.

"It would be too expensive for me", said Mao Jun, a young professional with Xinhua News Agency. Mao pays 168 yuan for 2Mbps with China Netcom.

High-speed Internet services will not be available to everyone though. In old communities where cable was laid years ago, residents might not be able to take advantage of new speeds.

"I am using a 2Mbps Internet service provided by China Netcom," said Li Ping, a resident in Anhuali community, Chaoyang district. "I called the company to see if I could upgrade my Internet rate to 4 or 8Mbps, but they said the community cable was too old and could not support anything over 2Mbps."

Wang Wei contributed to this story