Intel invests in Japan wireless network operator

Intel Capital, the venture capital arm of semiconductor chip-maker Intel Corp., has invested in a Tokyo-based mobile virtual network operator that is offering nationwide fixed-price wireless access through both wireless LAN and mobile telephone networks.

The investment, the value of which was not disclosed, makes Intel Capital a minority shareholder in Japan Communications Inc. and is aimed at giving a boost to the company, and ultimately the domestic market for wireless data communications, company executives said at a Tokyo news conference on Thursday.

“I am happy to announce we are investing in Japan Communications, JCI, with the idea of adding a level of capability to the use of mobile Centrino technology in this country,” said Claude Leglise, vice president of Intel Capital. “By combining WiFi and PHS (Personal Handyphone System), JCI will offer owners of notebook computers the ability to access the Internet using wireless networks anywhere in this country.”

JCI’s service is branded B-Mobile and is sold through high-street PC retailers as a prepaid solution bundled with a PHS modem card.

Users have the choice of connecting via either DDI Pocket Inc.’s PHS network, which covers 95 percent of Japan’s population and offers a top speed of 128k bps (bits per second), or via a wireless LAN hotspot of one of JCI’s roaming partners. The company already has agreements with several wireless LAN network operators that add up to more than 4,000 hotspots in Japan.

A one-year, unrestricted use subscription to the service costs around ¥90,000 ($840), said the company, and cheaper subscriptions are also available. A worktime-only package, which allows for access between 7am and 9pm only, costs around ¥50,000 and a lower price version of the same subscription capped at 32k bps access over PHS costs around ¥40,000.

JCI was founded in 1996 by Frank Seiji Sanda, former CEO of Apple Computer Inc.’s Japan unit, and the company also has a U.S. office in Colorado where 16 people do development work on some of the company’s wireless technology systems.

Intel Capital chose to invest in JCI because it believes the company’s service will improve the experience users get from the wireless technology in their PCs, said Kevin Sellers, marketing manager of Intel Japan.

“The ability to roam across hotspots and in addition work with the PHS network will provide a truly ubiquitous experience for notebook users,” said Sellers.

The investment marks the latest move Intel Capital has made in the wireless Internet space. Previous investments have included roaming alliance operator iPass Inc., voice-over-WiFi provider TeleSym Inc. and U.S. hotspot installer STSN Inc. among others, said Leglise.