Heres a the story for non @home users-
BTW: @home Japan currently works with Jupiter.
Just occured to me-anybody know what happened to the possibility of @home in Germany?
quicken.excite.com
UPDATE 2-AT&T, Microsoft gear up for Japan cable TV drive
FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2000 6:04:00 AM EST
(adds analyst comment and details and updates share prices)
By Yuka Obayashi
TOKYO, April 14 (Reuters) - U.S. giants AT&T Corp (NYSE:T) and Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) are gearing up to accelerate their global drive in cable Internet business -- this time in Japan.
Japan's top two cable television operators, Jupiter Telecommunications Co, 40 percent of which is owned by an AT&T unit, and Titus Communications Corp, in which Microsoft has just acquired a 60 percent stake, are in merger talks, Jupiter's parent Sumitomo Corp (T:8053) said on Friday.
The possible merger, which had been expected by industry specialists after Microsoft's purchase of a stake in Titus, will create a larger cable operator with 660,000 subscribers, helping AT&T and Microsoft build a solid footing in the promising but underdeveloped market for high-speed Internet access here.
Though Sumitomo, which owns 60 percent of Jupiter, Japan's largest cable operator, said nothing concrete had been decided, financial daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported the shareholders of Jupiter and Titus have agreed in principle to merge the two operators as early as July.
Sumitomo and Liberty Media, a subsidiary of AT&T, are expected to hold the largest stakes in the merged company, to be capitalised at 75 billion yen ($708.1 million), followed by Microsoft as the third, Itochu Corp (T:8001) and Toshiba Corp (T:6502), each of which hold 20 percent in Titus, as the fourth.
On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Sumitomo shares ended Friday trade at 1,335 yen, up 8.18 percent. Toshiba rose 0.91 percent to 1,000 yen while Itochu were 532 yen, down 2.03 percent.
Shares in NTT rose 0.68 percent to 1,490,000 yen.
POSSIBLE CONCERNS FOR NTT
The overseas push is seen as an attempt to turn current cable networks, which are now mostly used to transmit TV programmes, into two-way, interactive data pipelines that would replace traditional phone networks.
For that reason, analysts say, the move by Microsoft and AT&T could become a major concern for Japan's dominant telecommunication carrier Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) (T:9432), whose high fees have been widely blamed for stifling the number of Internet users in Japan.
Cable Internet, which allows users to surf the Web using cable television lines at speeds up to 25 times quicker than the fastest dial-up modems, are gainning popularity among 17 million Internet users in Japan.
"The U.S. alliance could be a threat to NTT because they have money to upgrade networks suitable for various Internet businesses," said Tadashi Nishi, senior analyst at Sakura Institute of Research.
Merrill Lynch's senior analyst Kiyohisa Ota warns the U.S. alliance will put pressure on NTT by intensifying competition in the vital Tokyo telecommunications market.
But some analysts argue that it may also bring some good news for NTT, which has been blamed for its dominance in Japan's telecom market.
"NTT may win freedom in doing new business such as broadcastings thank to an appearance of a powerful competitor," said Shinji Moriyuki, analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research.
JAPAN CABLE HAS ROOM TO GROW
The merged company, with 28 cable TV systems nationwide, can save on hefty capital investment costs in upgrading network systems, which would give it a technological advantage in quickly providing fast a wide range of broadcasting and Internet services.
Cable television in Japan is not as widespread as in the United States, reaching a 17 percent of households, far below more than 70 percent of American homes.
This is due to the industry structure which is carved up inefficiently into regional 700 entities, most being run independently and not able to afford the huge investment necessary to create up-to-date digital networks. |
