SkyPerfecTV & NTT in talks to lauch Satellite internet service.....................................
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SkyPerfecTV Planning Satellite Internet Service With NTT
July 08, 1998: 06:26 a.m. ET
TOKYO, JAPAN (NB) -- By Martyn Williams, Newsbytes. SkyPerfecTV, Japan's leading digital satellite broadcaster, says it is in talks with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT) [TOKYO:9432] regarding a satellite Internet service.
"We have not signed an agreement yet but we are negotiating with NTT for such a service," a spokesman for the broadcaster told Newsbytes. Talks regarding the venture, including interoperability of satellite tuners with personal computers, are currently underway.
The company launched its multi-channel service in November 1996 and had 752,000 subscribers at the end of June.
DirecTV Japan, a competing service, launched in December 1997 and had 140,000 subscribers at the end of June. It plans to launch an interactive service later this year although has announced no plans regarding a satellite Internet service.
Two companies in Japan currently offer the DirecPC satellite Internet service, one to domestic customers and one across Asia, although both target their services at corporations.
Should the SkyPerfecTV service launch, it will become the first consumer satellite Internet service available in Japan.
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