"Cheaper and 10X faster than NTT"--- The raging "success" of i-mode among Japan's adolescents has been based on a devised scarcity of decent internet connection, accomodated by the government which has the majority ownership of the company. NTT is taking their hothouse conditioned profits and thinking out to the competitive world's operators, which very well might take their cash, but are unlikely to bow very low to the minority owners and their monopoly-dulled methods, ideas and products.
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Total Telecom Asia
NTT faces Internet access threat
By Total Telecom staff
30 June 2000
A new 14-company joint venture threatens NTT's dominant position in the Japanese Internet market, the Financial Times reported on Friday.
Garnet Communications, a venture between Mitsui, U.S. telecoms company Rythms NetConnections and 12 others, including Cable & Wireless, aims to offer Internet access which will be cheaper and 10 times faster than the NTT service.
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Total Telecom
June 30, 2000
"Consider that our strengths are in research and development, where we employ 700 staff, invest 100 billion yen ($950 million) a year, and have a proven mobile Internet access model."
Tsujimura said minority stakes of 15 to 20 percent would give it a voice in the management of companies that would employ DoCoMo technology following its pioneering entry into third generation technology, know as WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access).
"By doing this, we can get all the return on investment and involvement that we need," he said. |
