Shanghai Media Group (SMG) president Li Ruigang announced at the China International New Media Forum on June 11 that SMG will launch an IPTV trial in Shanghai soon, reports Eastday. Li said the company's first IPTV trial was launched in Harbin in mid-May. Suburban Zhabei district will be the first area for the Shanghai trial.

Li said 200 problems with IPTV have been discovered during the trial. Li also said a lack of funding is a major obstacle to the development of IPTV.

An insider said Intel and UTStarcom will cooperate with SMG on IPTV hardware equipment and content. China Telecom and China Netcom have discussed cooperation on networks with SMG, said the report.

[Via Henbang]