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

To: TobagoJack who wrote (1427)	8/24/1999 5:58:00 AM
From: Edwin S. Fujinaka	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6020

It is amusing to consider the thought process that might lead NTT to get into the power transmission game <G>. I think they must be scared. I'll be incommunicado for a week or two so I hope someone else can survey the Nikkei Net for their version of the news. There is a free trial until 9/30 and the web site is: nni.nikkei.co.jp Last night Softbank closed at $284 in Tokyo. These two stories about the Nasdaq-Japan and the Last Mile Technologies were on the Nikkei Net. They address the two most recent major initiatives from Softbank and they are both pretty controversial. It appears that a fight may be brewing, but that is to be expected. This is not going to be a stroll in the park for Softbank or anyone else: Tuesday, August 24, 1999 Nasdaq-Japan Plans Working Groups To Plot Market Details TOKYO (Nikkei)--Nasdaq-Japan Planning Corp. will form four key working groups next month that will hammer out details of the workings of the electronic stock market planned for the year 2000. Nasdaq-Japan Planning, itself a 50-50 joint venture between Softbank Corp. (9984) and the National Association of Securities Dealers, is inviting eight securities companies, including the three largest in Japan, as well as Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (8315) and Fuji Bank (8317) to participate in the working groups. But at least some of the brokerage firms have expressed reluctance to join, out of concern that their participation could be taken as a seal of approval for the Nasdaq-Japan market. Nasdaq-Japan Planning, for its part, says it wants only to have its rule-making process take into account the views of market participants. Nasdaq-Japan will provide an electronic trading system built on the screen-based approach used by the Nasdaq stock market in the U.S. Leading Japanese and U.S. securities firms are expected to serve as market makers. The four working groups -- focusing on listing standards, trading execution, settlement and self-regulation -- are expected to take around two months to produce proposals. Nasdaq-Japan Planning, meanwhile, will set up a panel to study accounting standards, information disclosure and other issues. (The Nikkei Financial Daily Tuesday edition) Monday, August 23, 1999 Telecom Firms Fight Over Last Mile Of Net Access TOKYO (Nikkei)--With competition intensifying in the rapidly growing Internet provider market, telecommunications companies are stepping up efforts to attract customers through faster Net access. The focus is now on the so-called "last one mile," the final connection from trunk networks to the homes and offices of end users. Industry giant, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT) (9432), is pushing the use of fiber-optic cables to provide high-speed data transmission over the last mile, but some competitors are turning to other technologies. Expensive phone bills and slow access speed are the major causes of frustration among Japanese Internet users, according to Masayoshi Son, president of Softbank Corp. (9984). Seeing a business opportunity in addressing these problems, Softbank announced on Aug. 11 plans for a joint venture with Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501) and Microsoft Corp. The new provider will offer 1 megabits-per-second Internet access for a monthly fee of 5,000 yen or less over Tokyo Electric Power's existing fiber-optic network. The final connection from the cables carried by electricity poles in the street to customers will be completed using a wireless communication system. Japan Telecom Co. (9434) and KDD WinStar Corp., an affiliate of Kokusai Denshin Denwa Corp. (KDD) (9431), both use wireless systems to improve access speed in their networks. Japan Telecom and KDD may also adopt digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, which boosts data throughput along existing copper phone lines by using higher frequencies than those needed for voice transmissions. Some companies in the U.S. already offer DSL-based Internet access. NTT is also showing interest in DSL and plans to trial the technology this year. But some at the company are said to be questioning the usefulness of DSL because it can only serve small areas. The technology is capable of delivering data at between 128 kilobits per second and 52Mbps but cannot be used when the copper lines are located too close to ISDN lines which cause signal interference. Another option in the battle for the last mile is to use the coaxial cables owned by cable TV companies. By exploiting unused frequency band, some cable TV firms are offering 64Kbps-30Mbps Internet access for a flat monthly fee of around 5,000-6,000 yen. But coaxial cable services also have their shortcomings as they are only available in limited areas and interference is a problem when many cables are used, for example, in large apartment blocks. After considering the pros and cons, NTT has concluded that fiber-optics networks are the best means of providing fast access over the last mile. But smaller companies that use other technologies are likely to compete successfully because low-cost, high-speed service is what end-users want. (The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Monday morning edition)