According to a recent Nikkei report, several Japanese cable TV service providers plan to set up a joint venture in February 2007, to be led by Japan-based Its Communications, aiming to further expand the market penetration of their fiber-optic broadband services. Companies participating in the joint venture hope to increase their competitiveness in this market segment vis-a-vis the telecom NTT, which has been very aggressive in its fiber-optic service deployment. The joint venture is expected to attract a total of more than 100 cable companies in the future, and will push its service under a common brand name. The service is to feature data transmission speed of more than 10Mbps.