Kyushu Electric Power Co. will enter the international telecommunications market through a subsidiary by spring at the earliest, company officials said Friday.
The company, using fiber-optics, also plans to begin a full commercial broadband Internet service for home-based users through the subsidiary in April, in Fukuoka and Kitakyushu.
Kyushu Electric hopes to make the telecom business a new source of revenue amid intensifying competition since the liberalization of the electricity market, the officials said.
The subsidiary, Kyushu Telecommunication Network Co. (QTNet), plans to obtain an international telecommunications operator license from the government by the end of this year, the officials said.
It plans to launch international data communications services by utilizing a fiber-optic cable that is now being laid across the seabed between Fukuoka and Pusan, South Korea, by a consortium that includes Kyushu Electric, NTT Communications Corp., Japan Telecom Co., and Korea Telecom.
Kyushu Electric is also eyeing a business alliance with Korea Telecom as part of moves to expand its services to the Asian market, the U.S. and Europe, the officials said.
QTNet will conduct a trial of the broadband service in the city of Fukuoka from December to March, they said.