Tokyo Electric Power Co. plans to launch in the Tokyo metropolitan area later this year, a fiber-optic communications service using high-speed wireless access, company officials said Friday.
The leading utility plans to link its fiber-optic network, installed on utility poles and other facilities, to customers' homes via wireless communications, making it unnecessary to run cables to homes, the officials said.
The service will enable users to transmit data via the Internet at speeds of up to 20 to 30 megabits per second, they said.
Tepco plans to use the 5-gigahertz band the government opened up to private-sector firms last fall for wireless communications and set up small antennas at users' homes to connect them to its fiber-optic network.
The monthly fee is expected to be 3,000 yen to 4,000 yen, including Internet access fees -- about the same as for asymmetric digital subscriber line services. In addition, there will be an initial, one-time fee of around 10,000 yen.
Tepco is already offering a fiber-optic communications service with a transmission speed of up to 100 megabits per second. But the service has attracted fewer users than hoped, due mainly to relatively high initial costs, including that of wiring cables.