Yahoo Japan plans faster access

Japan has lagged in high-speed Internet access

TOKYO, Japan -- Internet portal Yahoo Japan said Tuesday that it and its parent Softbank Corp will soon launch high-speed Internet access services in Japan.

Shares in Yahoo Japan jumped 10.54 percent to 3.98 million yen on the news, while those in Softbank rose 3.55 percent to 4,080 yen in early morning trade.

Yahoo Japan's entry will heat up the competition in a growing telco sector.

It will offer ADSL (asymmetrical digital subscriber line) services at a fixed monthly charge of 2,000 yen ($16.28) from August, the Nihon Keizai business daily reported.

That is about half the fee charged by industry giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp, which launched a similar service last December.

NTT holds half of Japan's fledgling ADSL market with 96,000 subscribers.

Japan has lagged the United States, South Korea and other countries in establishing high-speed Internet access services, which critics have blamed on NTT's dominant industry position and lack of competition.

Investment of 100 billion yen

Yahoo and Softbank group companies will invest about $814 million (100 billion yen) by the end of this year to lay the groundwork in major cities, the paper said.

Softbank is expected to announce details of the planned business Tuesday afternoon.

Yahoo Japan is owned by Softbank, the Internet investment company started by Masayoshi Son, and U.S. Internet media giant Yahoo

Reuters contributed to this report.