Rim Semiconductor Company (fka RSMI)

[chromebuster]

fiber to the home offers some keen competition to NV technology, and it's being install today.

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Kyushu Home Users to Get 100Mbps FTTH Net Service in April
February 26, 2002 (TOKYO) -- Kyushu Telecommunication Network Co., Inc. (QTNet), a subsidiary of Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc., said recently that it will start Internet connection services using fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) lines from April.



Kyushu is one of four main islands located in the southern part of the Japanese archipelago.

The service is called "BBIQ," which stands for Broad Band Information Q-shu, and will cover Fukuoka City and part of Kita-Kyushu City. The monthly fee for houses (not condominiums) is reasonably priced at 5,500 yen. (134.27sz yen = US$1)

BBIQ offers three types of services: the "standard plan" for individual house residents, the "condominium plans" for condominium residents, and the "business plan" for corporate users. Each type will have the maximum speed of 100Mbps for both upward and downward directions.

The standard plan charges 5,500 yen per month. The condo-plans are set in three different monthly charges of 3,500, 4,500 and 5,500 yen depending on the in-house wiring conditions and the number of users within a collective housing compound. The business plan charges 20,900 yen per month. Each plan limits the number of terminals for connection. The standard- and condo-plans can connect up to five terminals, and the business plan is for up to 30 terminals.

Besides QTNet, several other FTTH services are lining up to launch this spring. In the end of February, Chugoku Information System Service Co., Inc. (CIS), a subsidiary of Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc. to launch one, Tokyo Electric Power Co. to launch another in March, and K-Opticom Corp., a subsidiary of Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc. will also start a service in April.

NTT East Corp. and NTT West Corp., Usen Broad Networks Inc. are already providing FTTH services. As for the FTTH service for individual houses, these service providers are currently charging over 6,000 per month. Therefore, the monthly fee of 5,500 yen by QTNet's BBIQ will be the least expensive one.