Beginning today, any business or government agency that refuses to have its overhead wires and cables placed underground faces a maximum fine of 30,000 yuan (US$3,614).

The threat of fines is the enforcement "incentive" of a new regulation that the city is using to achieve its goal of having all telecom fiber-optic wires and power and TV cables within Outer Ring Road underground by Dec-ember 31, 2005. That means nearly 13,000 kilometers of wire and cable must be buried - as well as 250,000 utility poles removed.

To have their wires and cables placed underground, businesses and government agencies must pay a fee to the municipal Engineering Administration Bureau or designated companies.

The bureau's work is esti-mated to cost more than 20 million yuan per kilometer of wires or cables.

"Placing wires and cables underground is in line with the development of the city," said Yin Yongfu, a senior engineer with the Shanghai Electric Cable Research Institute. Overhead utility lines are a waste of "land resources," he added.

Prior to this year, there were 7,000 kilometers of wires and cables already underground in downtown and suburban areas, said Jin Jiamo, a bureau spokesman.