TOKYO (WiMAX Day). The Japanese GSM network provider Softbank Mobile announced that it is discussing a joint venture with ADSL broadband provider eAccess to build a WiMAX network and bid on spectrum licenses.

Other Japanese telcos such as NTT DoCoMo and KDDI have made similar announcements during the last month in an attempt to grab a share of the WiMAX spectrum licenses soon to be issued in Japan.

In May, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication (MIC), announced that it would not issue licenses to large telecom groups, in an effort to broaden the market and encourage competition. However, the Ministry would accepts bids from companies that have such telecom groups owning less than 33% of their share capital.

According to a report in Reuters, the joint venture will seek additional partners, as well as investors, to shore up support for the eventual network build if their license bid is successful. “The initial costs will be considerable,” said Junichi Miyakawa, CTO for Softbank Mobile, at a press conference yesterday.

Reuters noted that both companies have already taken on debt to expand their mobile businesses, and eAccess sold a portion of its mobile business to Goldman Sachs in May.

The Ministry has not said when it would allocate spectrum for WiMAX, however Miyakawa said that the partners hope to apply to the Ministry by the end of August.

Gaining access to the spectrum licenses is crucial for Softbank. In December 2006, MIC granted the company a temporary testing license for 2.5 GHz spectrum, which allowed Softbank to launch a WiMAX trial using five bases stations supplied by Motorola, and 25 prototype Motorola handsets.

At the time, Softbank said that WiMAX would become the focus of its commercial wireless broadband business. Following its acquisition of Vodafone K.K. from Vodafone Group in April 2006 for $15 billion, Mr Miyakawa said Softbank “has been preparing to provide innovative new services to launch full-scale wireless broadband services and to realise a true ubiquitous society.”

eAccess also has been busy testing WiMAX. In July 2006 the company was awarded a testing license for 2.5 GHz spectrum and in November 2006, eAccess successfully tested mobile WiMAX in partnership with Matsushita Electric Works Ltd, which achieved “high-speed data transmission surpassing 3G mobile service.”

The company has developed a business model that would fully integrate WiMAX into its existing broadband services that, according to information from eAccess, will create business opportunities by adding mobility to fixed broadband, by opening the handset and applications markets for accessibility by IP-based services, and “create a new market with a stand-alone technology, beyond complimenting the existing services.”