Television Tokyo Channel 12 Ltd. said Monday it will set up a joint venture with six other firms on March 1 to provide economic news and animation programs via high-speed Internet connections.

Television Tokyo Broadband Entertainment Inc. hopes to develop new businesses in expectation that progress in high-speed Internet connections will enable users to access TV programs and animation from their personal computers and mobile phones, TV Tokyo said.

Its partners are NTT East Corp., Nihon Keizai Shimbun Inc., Sharp Corp., NEC Interchannel Ltd., Contents Japan Ltd., and Quick Corp.

To be capitalized at 465 million yen, the new firm will be owned 34.4 percent by TV Tokyo, 19.4 percent by NTT East, 13.1 percent by Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 12.9 percent by Sharp, 8.6 percent each by NEC Interchannel and Contents Japan and three percent by Quick.

The new firm will start providing programs, some of which will be charged for, around June via the Internet, mobile phones, and personal digital assistants, such as Sharp's Zaurus, the TV network said.