Tokyo Telecommunications Network Co. plans to commence a high-speed fiber-optic Internet access service, perhaps within the current fiscal year, company sources said Saturday.
TTNet, a regional telecommunications firm affiliated with Tokyo Electric Power Co., plans to launch the fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) service in Tokyo and prefectural capitals in the Kanto region by utilizing a 70,000-km-long optical fiber network that will be jointly maintained by the company and Tepco.
The maximum speed of the service is expected to be 100 megabits per second, with the monthly subscription fee likely to be around 10,000 yen.
TTNet plans to provide education- and business-related content over the network. , the sources said. The fiber-optic network will enable Internet access speeds 2,000 times faster than those via ordinary telephone lines, allowing quick browsing of video data and downloading of music.
In December, NTT East Corp. and NTT West Corp., the two regional carriers of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., launched a pilot FTTH service with a maximum transmission speed of 10 Mbps at a monthly fee of 13,000 yen.
In March, cable broadcaster Usen Corp. started an optical fiber broadband service for households with a speed of 100 Mbps in some areas of Tokyo. Its monthly subscription fee is 4,900 yen. The company plans to expand the service to major cities throughout the country by April 2003.