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To: Raymond Duray who wrote (8112)	8/21/2000 2:50:34 PM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 12823

NTT Communications & Covad invest in Japanese Internet, I am trying to find the piece about the Japanese operator expecting the government to foot the bill for FTTH. NTT Communications & Covad invest in Japanese Internet By Yuka Obayashi, Reuters 10 August 2000 Japanese Internet service provider NTT Communications said on Thursday it and U.S.-based Covad Communications Group Inc are teaming up in a Japanese start-up in high-speed Internet access service. Each will invest 1.25 billion yen ($11.58 million). Under the deal, NTT Communication and Covad, which provides high-speed digital communications over traditional phone lines, will each acquire 41.8 percent stake in ACCA Networks Co Ltd, a Tokyo-based unlisted firm which plans to launch a high-speed digital subscriber line (DSL) service in Japanese metropolitan areas this autumn. NTT Communications, a long-distance and international phone service operator owned by Japanese telecoms giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) , aims to boost its client base by offering a wide selection of Internet access services, a spokesman said. Analysts see the move bringing fresh conflict with its sister companies NTT East and NTT West - NTT's domestic fixed line operators - which are eager to expand integrated services digital networks (ISDN), giving unlimited-access high-speed Internet services, to accelerate their own Internet access provider businesses. "There'll be competition within the NTT group from the move," said a telecoms analyst at a U.S. investment bank who asked not to be named. "But since it will take some time for ACCA to expand its service areas, the rivalry is not going to be severe." NTT Communications said separately it would purchase 5.79 percent of Media Station Inc, an unlisted U.S. start-up which provides content via high-speed broadband networks such as DSL. The firm did not disclose terms, but a source close to the deal said the investment is not significant for the NTT group. The news did not have an immediate impact on the shares of parent company NTT, which closed down 2.27 percent or 30,000 yen at 1.29 million yen. THE DEAL Under the agreement, Ignite Japan KK, a Japanese subsidiary of U.S. venture capital Ignite Group, will also invest 170 million yen to acquire 6.7 percent of ACCA, while the remaining 9.7 percent will be held by the founders of the start-up. NTT Communications plans to use ACCA's DSL lines to meet customers' demand for faster Internet access, while it plans to continue to employ other Internet access network services including ISDN, the spokesman said. Covad, which has expertise in DSL, will provide technical support to ACCA. In Japan, there are fewer than 10 major DSL providers, lagging far behind the United States, mainly due to their limited service area. As of the end of June, there were only 1,235 users accessing the Internet via DSL, according to government data. INVESTORS AWAIT NTT COMM DEADLINE FOR VERIO BID Telecom analysts are awaiting for next week's deadline for a deal of which NTT Communication announced in May - its purchase of a stake in U.S. business Web site operator Verio Inc . On May 7, NTT agreed to buy the 90 percent of Verio it does not already own for $5.5 billion. It placed the offer price at $60.00 per share for common stock and $62.136 for preferred stock. The tender is being vetted to see if it poses a threat to national security, and a decision is expected by August 14, the deadline for NTT unit's Verio bid.