Fujitsu Ltd., Secom Co., Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Marubeni Corp. have agreed to integrate their cable television (CATV) businesses to create the industry's second largest CATV operator, sources within the industry said Saturday.
The four firms plan to set up a company to run affiliated CATV stations in the Tokyo metropolitan area by the end of this year, the sources said. Tomen Corp., which also has its own CATV firm, will also take a stake in the new company, they said.
The new company will be the second largest CATV operator after Jupiter Telecommunications Co., which integrated operations Friday with its rival, Titus Communications Corp.
Jupiter's major shareholders are Japan's Sumitomo Corp. and AT&T Corp. of the United States. Titus is a subsidiary of Microsoft Corp. of the U.S.
The new company formed by the five firms will have about 20 CATV stations in Tokyo's Nakano Ward and Mitaka city, Yokohama and other areas, serving about 500,000 households, compared with the approximately 800,000 households served by Jupiter.
They will also call on independent CATV operators to join the group, the sources said.
The new company plans to build new facilities for digital broadcasts and high-speed Internet access services, the sources said.
It will also utilize Fujitsu's NIFTY Corp., a leading Japanese Internet service provider, and Secom's home security service in its operations, they said.