Internet
ò Usen Corp said it would acquire Fuji Television Network's entire stake in Livedoor for about Ñ9.5 billion ($82 million) to form a business tie-up with the once strong internet company. The acquisition will make UsenÆs President, Uno, Livedoor's second-largest shareholder after former Livedoor President Takafumi Horie, who has been charged with accounting fraud. Usen, Japan's biggest cable broadcaster, and Livedoor said they have agreed to collaborate on net portal, financial and software business operations. Usen and Livedoor said they would set up a committee by the end of this month to hammer out the specifics of the business alliance adding they plan to reach a decision on the details by late April. With the deal, Usen is coming to into clear competition with two Japanese internet giants û Yahoo Japan and Rakuten. Usen has recently been expanding its presence in the net industry with its ''GyaO'' free TV broadcasting services, whose subscribers total nearly 8 million.
ò Softbank, an Internet services company announced that it is acquiring a 97.7 per cent stake in British mobile phone company Vodafone's Japan unit. The acquisition, when completed, is seen as boosting SoftbankÆs entry into the mobile phone business. The deal, which is worth some Ñ1.7 trillion ($15 billion), is expected to be final in a month or two. The acquisition of Vodafone Group PLC's Japan unit is seen as enabling Softbank to take over the more than 15 million Japanese users who have signed on to the carrier, as well as its mobile network. This will save Softbank, which has been successful with its broadband service Yahoo! BB, from starting from nothing. Vodafone's share of the Japanese market has declined over the past two years after it delayed the launch of 3G services. Softbank has been described as ôaggressiveö in offering broadband services in Japan and is a huge player in the country's Internet Protocol telephony market.
Information Technology
ò Macros Japan, a firm that develops and sells communication control equipment that makes it impossible to use mobile phones in specified areas, announced that it has started marketing devices for use in medical institutions. The device emits radio waves on the same frequency as that of mobile phones, thereby blocking communication with base stations. The company aims to sell 2,000 devices to 500 medical institutions over a three-year period. It will prevent voice communication and e-mails from mobile phones of NTT DoCoMo Inc., KDDI Corp. Vodafone KK and Willcom Inc. To deploy such communication-blocking equipment requires permission from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. At present, permission on the use of the devices has been issued to about 130 large facilities such as theaters and concert halls. A total of 70 facilities are using Macros Japan's equipment. The newly developed device makes it possible to have different areas within a hospital where mobile phones can and cannot be used, while not interfering with the operation of medical equipment. Each device will sell for Ñ780,000 ($6,800) and installation costs are estimated at around 200,000 yen ($1,700). The firm said four hospitals in the Tokyo metropolitan area will adopt the equipment this month.
Mobile/Wireless
ò Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. announced its plans to install wireless broadband access points at a total of 900 hamburger restaurants and coffee shops by next spring. The first will become available at some Lotteria burger chain restaurants in Tokyo. Access points are also expected to be up and running at some Tully's Coffee outlets around the same time. Lotteria operates about 600 hamburger restaurants nationwide. Tully's Coffee has roughly 300 coffee shops around Japan. These firms hope that having wireless broadband access points will help their outlets attract more customers. The NTT group has already set up roughly 10,000 wireless broadband access points, centering on train station buildings and hotels. They offer a data throughput of roughly 54 megabits per second -- fast enough to play back sharp video in real time. Softbank Corp. has also been offering a wireless broadband access service. It plans to further increase the number of access points, some at McDonald's Japan restaurants, from the current 3,500 or so.
ò Panasonic Mobile Communications had the top share in 2005 domestic mobile phone shipments, according to IDC Japan, making it the first time that Panasonic Mobile took the lead since IDC Japan began the survey in 2002. The combined share of the top four companies was 62 percent, which is 6 percent rise from the year-earlier combined stake. The survey said domestic mobile phone shipments in 2005 posted a 0.5 percent rise on the year to 44.3 million units, marking a growth for the first time in two years. Panasonic Mobile grabbed a 17 percent share of the market, which is a 2.5 percent increase from 2004. Panasonic went from No. 3 to No. 1. Sharp Corp., which supplies handsets to NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone, each had a share of 16 percent, which was up 1.4 percentage points. Nevertheless, the company fell from its 2005 second-place spot to third. NEC Corp., which has been at the top since the start of the survey, fell to second place in 2005 with a share of 16.5 percent, down 0.5 point from 2004. Toshiba Corp. remained No. 4, the same spot it held in 2004. It got a 12.5 percent share.
ò Usen Corp. plans to begin a free video distribution service for cellular phones on March 27, with the goal of attracting 3 million registered users in the initial year. Videos, each lasting no more than five minutes or so, will be transmitted to users of 3G-handsets that support video and high-speed data communications functions once they register their personal information, including ZIP codes, sex and email addresses. No fees will be charged, but four short commercials will be inserted into each programme. The service will likely start with around 20 programmes, but the offerings will be increased to around 50 over time. Some of the programs will be produced specifically for the service's main target audience û women in their late teens to early 30s. But the rest is expected to come from recycled content already produced for its GyaO Net video distribution service. Offering free programs with commercials, this Internet video distribution service has attracted about 7.8 million registered users since it debuted in April 2005.
Media, Entertainment and Gaming
ò Sony disclosed its plan to delay the launch of its PlayStation 3 half a year until November, a decision that observers say will allow Microsoft to win a bigger share of the multi-billion dollar video game industry. The reason for the delay is technical. The next-generation home video game console is one of Sony's core products and its success against Microsoft's already-launched Xbox 360 is considered vital to its revival after a profit decline. Sony said the group was aiming to initially ship one million PlayStation 3 consoles each month, with the company planning a simultaneous global launch. The company said it will employ the next generation Blu-ray Disc technology - which is expected to have a greater storage capacity than rival format HD DVD - in the PlayStation 3 in the aim of making it a home entertainment centre. The decision is made despite the deadlock attending the talks on the copyright protection to be incorporated into the Blu-ray technology. Investors, however, are concerned that the company may not be able to produce enough of the new consoles in time for the crucial end-of-year shopping period. Analysts expected the PlayStation 3 to have a price tag of about $400 but would not be surprised if it retailed for as much as $500. Microsoft aims to sell 5.5 million Xbox 360 consoles by July.
Telecommunications
ò KDDI Corp. said it might lift its annual dividend payment for the fiscal period through March by around Ñ600 ($5) to roughly Ñ7,500 ($65) per share. The rise is partly attributed to estimates that parent-only after-tax profit, which is used to calculate dividends, will climb nearly 20 percent. Also KDDI's key au cellular phone business has performed solidly on rising demand for downloading songs. For the full fiscal year, KDDI is anticipated to post a group net profit of Ñ187 billion ($1.6 billion), a 7 percent decline attributed to KDDI not logging in a profit from the transfer of businesses, as it did in fiscal 2004.
