Unlike U.S., Japanese Push Fiber Over Profit

UNLIKE US, JAPANESE PUSH FIBER OVER PROFIT
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Ken Belson]
The United States may be the world’s largest economy, but when it comes to Internet connections at home, many Americans still live in the slow lane. By contrast, Japan is a broadband paradise with the fastest and cheapest Internet connections in the world. But while that speed is a boon for Japanese users, industry analysts and some companies question whether the push to install fiber is worth the effort, given the high cost of installation, affordable alternatives and lack of services that take advantage of the fast connections. The heavy spending on fiber networks, analysts say, is typical in Japan, where big companies disregard short-term profit and plow billions into projects in the belief that something good will necessarily follow. Such a strategy may seem anathema in the United States, where companies like AT&T and Verizon Communications, the market leader with 1.1 million fiber subscribers, are under intense pressure from investors to justify their capital spending plans. And analysts note that the Bush administration has largely stood on the sidelines rather than provide financial incentives to promote fiber services.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/business/worldbusiness/03broadband.htm...
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