Softbank, Acca to Start 40Mbps ADSL Service in January 2004

[takagi]

Softbank Group said it soon will begin offering a new asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) data transfer service with a downstream speed of 40Mbps. ... The services both have a transfer rate of 3Mbps in the upstream direction, which they claimed is Japan's first.

source: NE Asia online [neasia.nikkeibp.com]

Softbank has set the monthly fee at 3,970 yen (US$ 36.50)

[RobinC]

I am *so* wanting to emigrate to Japan now...

Robin

[bill]

...yes, but I've got 100Mbps fiber optic to my home, and that only costs me about $40 US per month. I think that as the consumers here start to look for speed they'll empower a lot of the established, but smaller fiber optic vendors.

I wonder if SoftBank is feeling the pressure from these upstarts. I know that their salespeople on the streets look quite downhearted when I mention the magical words 'fiber optic'. ;)

[takagi]

Some data about broadband subscribers in Japan:

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[b]January 31[/b]
 DSL:. . . . 6,119,883 (+474,155)
 FTTH: . . . . 233,072 ( +26,883)
 Cable:. . . 1,992,000 ( +38,000)
 --------------------------------
 Total:. . . 8,344,955 (+539,038)
 
:
:
 
[b]August 31[/b]
 DSL:. . . . 8,881,039 (+339,699)
 FTTH: . . . . 608,045 ( +76,713)
 Cable:. . . 2,304,000 ( +21,000)
 --------------------------------
 Total: . . 11,793,084 (+437,412)
 
[b]September 30[/b]
 DSL:. . . . 9,228,686 (+347,647)
 FTTH: . . . . 688,450 ( +80,405)
 Cable:. . . 2,339,000 ( +35,000)
 --------------------------------
 Total: . . 12,256,136 (+463,052)
 
[b]October 31[/b]
 DSL:. . . . 9,590,349 (+361,663)
 FTTH: . . . . 756,211 ( +67,761)
 Cable:. . . 2,376,000 ( +37,000)
 --------------------------------
 Total: . . 12,722,560 (+466,424)

Source: Japanese Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications [soumu.go.jp]

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North America saw the lowest regional growth rate for the quarter (at 8 percent). Asia-Pacific continues to demonstrate strong broadband demand with its subscriber base, which grew by 23 percent.

During 3Q03, Japan passed Korea as the leading broadband country in Asia, with 11.6 million subscribers.

Source: Global Broadband Subscribers to Approach 100 Million by End of Year [telecomweb.com]
Note: The 11.6 million is without the 0.7 million FTTH subscribers.

According to that page, the numbers of subscribers was at Q3:

1 United States . . . 23.6 million
2 Japan . . . . . . . 11.6 million 
3 South Korea . . . . 11.2 million
4 China. . . . . . . . 9.4 million