Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Softbank Group Corp -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Netwit who wrote (1353)	8/18/1999 1:04:00 PM
From: Edwin S. Fujinaka	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 6018

I tried to post this last night about ten hours ago, but it wouldn't work. This morning Schwab is quoting a dealer to dealer price range of $278 Bid and $288 Asked as of about half an hour ago. This Editorial was posted on the Nikkei Net last night in Tokyo. the remarkable thing is that they almost appear to be concedeing a dominant position to Softbank in the Wireless Internet Connection Arena even though the Softbank/Microsoft/Tepco Joint Venture was just announced. I believe this is a testament to the power that Softbank's Name carries in Tokyo with anything related to the Internet. They have not even decided what frequencies will be used for their One Megahertz service and it appears to be a foregone conclusion that Softbank will pull it off and the other competitors will have to scramble. I suspect that this tells you something about Sofbank's Political Clout. Here in the US, a great deal is made out of who has licences in what geographic areas and for what frequencies: Tuesday, August 17, 1999 EDITORIAL: Competition Among Internet Access Providers Welcome TOKYO (Nikkei)--The inexpensive, high-speed Internet access Softbank Corp. (9984) plans to offer in cooperation with two other firms just might usher in a welcome price war among Japanese telecommunications carriers and accelerate the local proliferation of Internet use. Softbank, Microsoft Corp. and Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501) will introduce flat-rate Internet access next summer, supplementing Tepco's fiber-optic network with wireless links to homes and offices. The service is expected to cost less than 5,000 yen per month, compared with the 10,000 yen Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (9432) will probably charge for its experimental flat-rate local service. And price is not the only drawing card, as the connection provided by the Softbank team will be 20 times faster than NTT's. Sony Corp. (6758) and some cable TV operators plan to start or have already started flat-rate Internet service. But Softbank and its partners have the potential to really shake things up as they will bring the first serious competition for NTT. Odds are that NTT will have no choice but to lower its rates immediately after its trial flat-fee service begins. Other electric power companies may also follow suit, putting further pressure on NTT. The Japanese public has waited a long time for this. Building new lines into homes, the so-called final mile, for local phone service requires huge expenditures in terms of time and money, making entry into the market highly prohibitive. Because of this obstacle, there has been virtually no competition in the field of local residential phone service. Innovation is almost non-existent and connections to the Internet are painfully slow. In Japan, high local phone rates due to NTT's line monopoly have held back growth in domestic Internet use. But installing wireless transmitters on telephone poles at intervals of several hundred meters will enable Softbank and its partners to overcome this problem. The required investment will be much smaller than if new phone lines had to be built. Though wireless links are expected to become a popular approach among industry newcomers, allocation of radio frequencies could pose a problem. The Posts and Telecommunications Ministry decides who gets to use which frequencies. The three companies did not say which frequency they intend to use for the new service. Some argue a major review of the allocation system is due as wireless communications will become increasingly important in promoting competition. Frequencies have long been regarded as a limited resource but new technologies and approaches promise to alleviate such concerns. A government panel on regulatory reform last month stated that a full review of the frequency allocation system and the development of frequency resources must be conducted. The plan by Softbank and its partners provides another reason to move forward quickly on this front. (The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Tuesday morning edition) Copyright 1999 Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc., all rights reserved.