Japan
On February 18, 2010, Liberty Global completed the sale of the subsidiaries that directly or indirectly, including through certain trust arrangements, held our 37.8% ownership interest in J:COM to KDDI Corporation, the second largest wireless operator in Japan. The effects of this transaction are not reflected in our December 31, 2009 reporting and related presentation herein.
J:COM is the largest broadband provider of video, broadband internet, and fixed telephony services in Japan.
J:COM provides services to over 3.3 million customers, as of December 31, 2009, throughout the Kanto region (which includes Tokyo), the Kansai region (which includes Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto), the Kyushu region (which includes Fukuoka and Kita-Kyushu), and in the areas of Sendai & Sapporo.
J:COM serves its customers through multiple managed franchises operating at the local level, all under the unified company brand "J:COM". All of J:COM’s cable networks are upgraded to two-way capability with all of its cable homes passed served by a network with a bandwidth of at least 750 MHz.
Liberty Global owns an indirect controlling ownership interest in J:COM of 37.8%. J:COM is listed on the JASDAQ stock exchange (JASDAQ: 4817).
Video
J:COM provides analog and digital video services. An analog cable subscriber receives approximately 45 channels, not including premium services. For its digital cable subscribers, J:COM offers a video service of up to 66 channels (including channels from its analog service). In addition, J:COM offers both its analog and digital subscribers optional subscriptions to premium channels, including movies, sports, horseracing, and other special entertainment programming. Through its digital service, J:COM also offers an electronic programming guide, interactive services, on demand services (VoD), DVR and HD-DVR time-shifting capability, including multiple HD television channels.
Internet
J:COM offers seven tiers of broadband internet services with download speeds ranging from 256 Kbps to an ultra high-speed of 160 Mbps. The ultra high-speed internet, branded J:COM Net Ultra 160M Course, is based on DOCSIS 3.0 technology.
Voice
J:COM provides multi-feature telephony services through circuit-switched telephony and in certain areas via VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). J:COM also offers mobile voice services called J:COM MOBILE in partnership with WILLCOM, Inc., a personal handphone system service provider in Japan.
Programming
Through its programming division, Jupiter TV, J:COM develops, manages, and distributes pay television services on a platform-neutral basis through various distribution infrastructures, principally cable and DTH service providers, and more recently, alternative broadband service providers using fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) and ADSL platforms (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line). Jupiter TV owns and operates nine channels and has ownership interests, ranging from 10% to 50%, in eight additional channels in Japan.
Go to J:COM
