SEATTLE, APRIL 9: Software giant Microsoft Corp. is buying a 60 percent stake in Japan's number two cable television operator, Titus Communications Corp, taking its push into high-speed Internet access to a small but growing market.Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., said late on Friday that it was buying the stake in Titus from U.S. Cable company MediaOne Group Inc, which is merging with US Telecommunications giant AT&T Corp. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.Japanese media reports said late last year that Microsoft was interested in buying the stake. Other Titus stakeholders include Japan's Toshiba Corp. and Itochu. Microsoft and MediaOne officials could not immediately be reached for comment.Microsoft chairman and co-founder Bill Gates said in a video statement the deal would help speed the roll-out of broadband, or high-speed Internet access, in Japan. "We're very excited about the opportunity to participate in the tremendous growth of broadband in the Japanese cable business," Gates said."Microsoft's vision of any time, any place access to information is enhanced by the relationship with Titus who shares this vision, and can not only help to speed the development of broadband but, as the recognised industry leader, in integrating video, telephone and Internet access," Gates said.Internet development in Japan has been hampered by high prices as the state-run telecom giant, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT), wrangles with Internet access companies over fees and access issues.Cable Internet allows users to surf the Web using cabletelevision lines, bypassing telephone-based networks while delivering service at speeds up to 25 Times quicker than the fastest dial-up modems.However, cable television is not as widespread in Japan asit in the United States, reaching an estimated 17 percent of households there, compared to more than 70 percent of American homes.A page on MediaOne's Web site said Titus had nine cable TVfranchises with 1.6 million potential subscribers. It was unclear how many homes have actually signed up for its service or how recent those data were.The purchase marks an overseas push by Microsoft, which hasinvested in the U.S. Cable industry with an eye on supplying the software that will run cable Internet equipment. Last year, it bought a $5 billion stake in AT&T and is providing software to power AT&T's set-top boxes.Shares in Microsoft, which were battered last week in thewake of a federal judge's ruling that it was an abusive monopoly, rose 3-1/16 to 89-1/16 on Friday.
