360networks wins Japan license

Telecommunications service provider 360networks announced Tuesday that it has received a license to own and operate a telecom network in Japan. The development clears the way for the Canadian company to offer its business customers more telecom access to the Asian market where it already wields a presence. Company representative Michelle Gagné says the company will make inroads into the Japanese market through partnerships or by purchasing network capacity and has no plans to build its own network in the country. The company will begin offering services in Japan by November and will focus on long-haul network routes that go from Tokyo and Osaka to North America as well as networks that run between Tokyo and Hong Kong. Long-haul routes are fiber networks that run between cities. 360networks already works with C2C, a subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications, and receives connections to markets in South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore and China. The company also has links to Europe and South America.