??? I don't get this at all--I thought the deal was caput.
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Wednesday March 29, 1:09 am Eastern Time
TEPCO sees delay in Net venture with Softbank
TOKYO, March 29 (Reuters) - Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc (TEPCO) said on Wednesday a delay is possible in the startup of a flat-rate Internet access service by a venture set up with Softbank Corp and Microsoft Corp (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news).
TEPCO President Nobuya Minami told reporters that there are technical and profitability issues that need to be further discussed, as well as more extensive experiments.
The three companies set up a venture called SpeedNet in Japan last September aimed at offering wireless Internet connections as early as this summer. They said at that time that it would be the cheapest, fastest flat-rate Internet access service in Japan.
Minami said the Internet service, which is to use TEPCO's network of fibreoptic cables, is still technically unstable, including ``noise' problems.
It is still hard to map out concrete business plans that will yield profits in several years while offering drastically low rates, he told a news conference.
TEPCO shares ended trade on the Tokyo stock market up five yen at 2,300. Softbank, enjoying a rebound in high-tech and Internet shares on Wednesday, rose 5,000 to 91,500. |
