Beijing Netcom, an affiliate of China Netcom, says it will soon not accept any new applications from consumers for installing a broadband or telephone until the end of the Beijing Olympic Games, but the company has denied that it will close the network during the Olympic Games as previously rumored on some Chinese Internet forums and BBS.

Beijing Netcom staff has told local media that the company is doing this to ensure the smooth handling of the Beijing Olympic Games, which begin on August 8, 2008, and prevent any negative influence on the communications during the Games caused by overloaded traffic.

Chinese media says that it is China's Ministry of Information Industry that has forced the limit on Internet use and the limit measures will be implemented in three phases starting late July: various telecom network construction, system dividing and connecting, and upgrading will be stopped starting July 20; new service launches and adjustments will be temporarily halted starting August 1; and network administration data creation will be stopped starting August 5. All these services will be resumed on August 25, after the Olympics are finished. In addition, according to China's relevant rules, from June 20 to August 25, no party shall be allowed initiate any new telecom service test except for major testing programs run by the ational government.

These measures are said to be taken to ensure information security and the smooth operation of the Olympic communications network. China Netcom says that it has made a security planning model which consists of three core systems of safety design, safety pre-warning and safety management to ensure the network information safety during the Olympic Games.