Poweredcom Inc., a telecommunications firm affiliated with Tokyo Electric Power Co., is seeking tieups with Internet content providers to improve the quality of its Net services, its president said in a recent interview with Kyodo News.

"In the past, we have competed in (Net access) speed, but from now on, richness of content will be the key," Poweredcom President Satoshi Shiraishi said.

"Because we cannot enter into content-provision operations, we would like to form alliances with companies having software such as movies, music and games."

Poweredcom, which has offered data-communication services to corporate users, made a fresh start in April when it merged with Tokyo Telecommunication Network Co. (TTNet), a regional telecom carrier.

It is owned 35.6 percent by Tepco. Nine other electric power companies hold stakes in the company.

Shiraishi said his company has "an advantage of possessing a fiber-optic network totaling 220,000 km nationwide."

Utilizing this asset, Poweredcom will focus on providing superfast Net access services for households and companies, he said.

Poweredcom and nine other carriers affiliated with power companies have agreed to build a nationwide Internet protocol telephony network to enable their subscribers to converse with each other free of charge.

"Although communication quality of IP phones is inferior to that of fixed-line phones, the IP phone market is expected to expand because cost-conscious companies will use both IP phones and fixed-line phones as the situation demands," he said.