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TOKYO, (AFP) Japan's largest Internet investor Softbank Corp. said Monday it may enter the telecom market, amid growing concerns over the firm's profitability.

"We have been considering venturing into the telephone business. But we have nothing to announce at this moment," the company said in a statement.

Earlier, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said Softbank would start a telecom business early next year by offering the lowest telephone call rates in Japan.

A Softbank spokeswoman declined to confirm details in the report.

Using Internet telephony technology, Softbank would set uniform rates of around 2.5 yen (two cents) per minute to any destination in Japan and the United States, the business daily said without citing sources. The offer is a sharp contrast to international and long-distance telephone firm NTT Communications Corp., which charges 60 yen for a one-minute phone call to the United States. NTT Communications charges 8.5 yen per three minutes for calls within Japan.

BB Technology, a Softbank subsidiary, would run the telephone business, the newspaper said.

Last month Softbank suffered its worst interim net loss ever of 54.3 billion yen (452 million dollars) due to the falling value of its large shareholdings and warned it would wallow in red ink for the full year. 3

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