Fujitsu, Sony eyes withdrawing from Internet service provider market

Japan's Fujitsu Ltd. and Sony Corp. are both intending to sell their Internet service provider (ISP) subsidiaries, local media reported Thursday. Japan Industrial Partners Inc., a Tokyo-based investment fund are approaching the two electronics manufacturers at present, which has already acquired NEC Corp.'s ISP business, Japan's Kyodo News citing industry sources as saying. According to the report, the decline of consumer population and intensified competition in ISP sector may become the main considerations for the two companies to give up that business, which mainly focus on individual customers. The method of sale is not yet decided. In a statement released the same day, Fujitsu said it is "considering various choices," but there is no fact that they have entered into "sales arrangement." Nifty, the subsidiary of Fujitsu, set up in 1986 and had about 1.51 million subscribers to its broadband service as of December last year. While So-net, with some 2.35 million broadband service subscribers as of last month, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony, established in 1995.