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

To: Edwin S. Fujinaka who wrote (3476)	1/24/2000 2:53:00 AM
From: Edwin S. Fujinaka	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6020

NTT may be attempting to preempt Softbank's venture into wireless service (the joint venture with Tokyo Electric Power and Microsoft) with a rooftop antenna system that is hard wired into the building ala Windstar (WCII). This seems cumbersome compared to the proposed system from Softbank with transmitting units every few hundred meters on the electric power poles. One problem may be the frequencies that are available to Softbank for this use. I think the Japanese regulatory agencies are working on this question and it may become a test of Softbank's political clout. I think that politics are coming to play a larger role in Softbank's fortunes throughout the World. We'll have to see if Son is up to the task: Monday, January 24, 2000 NTT Affiliate To Offer Wireless, High-Speed Net Service TOKYO (Nikkei)--NTT-ME Corp., an engineering firm belonging to Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (9432), will offer from February a fixed-charge, high-speed Internet access service using wireless technology to residents of condominiums and other housing complexes, company sources said. NTT-ME will install dedicated circuits in housing units and erect mother antennas on rooftops to provide up to 1 megabit throughput -- a higher capacity than ISDN (integrated services digital network) and cable TV networks. Around-the-clock access will cost 3,900 yen per month. The service can be made available to existing condominiums through simple engineering work. The NTT affiliate aims for a clientele of 200,000 housing units in the initial year, the sources said. NTT-ME's engineers nationwide will be involved in setting up facilities. A joint venture will be set up later this month to manage the service, including air waves administration. The new company will be capitalized at 20 million yen, with wireless technology firm Callus Computer Corp. contributing 50% and NTT-ME 40%. The remaining 10% will come from Industrial Bank of Japan (8302) and its venture capital firm, the sources said. (The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Monday evening edition)