J:COM Ups Stake in Japanese Cable Platform

TOKYO, August 25: Japanese MSO Jupiter Telecommunications
(J:COM) has acquired an additional 18.5 percent of the Fukuoka Cable Network
(FCN), bringing its stake in the platform to 63.5 percent.

As previously announced, FCN will merge with Cable Vision
21, a J:COM subsidiary, effective September 1, and the name of the combined
outfit will be J:COM Fukuoka Co. Ltd. Both FCN and CV21 have been providing
quad-play services in the Kyushu region under the J:COM brand. The merger is
intended to create operational efficiencies.

J:COM is Japan’s largest MSO, with 19 franchises serving
2.89 million homes in the Sapporo, Kanto, Kansai and Kyushu regions of the
country.

—By Mansha Daswani