Govt to Study Re-Organization Plan
Telecom minister Heizo Takenaka pledged Friday to examine NTT’s plan to reorganize its structure and eliminate overlapping businesses. The remarks from the minister of internal affairs and communications came two days after the telecom giant unveiled the reorganization plan, which is designed to offer Internet and telecom services, among others, for corporate clients at competitive fares.
NTT East, NTT West and NTT DoCoMo Inc., its mobile operator, plan to offer services combining fixed-line phones using fiber-optics and mobile phones by building an advanced IP phone network.
The plan immediately drew flak from its smaller rival Softbank Corp., which expressed concern about the behemoth regaining the telecommunications monopoly it long enjoyed as a state-owned operation. NTT was privatized in 1985. Softbank, an Internet business investment firm, offers a high-speed Internet service and recently became a telecommunications firm after acquiring fixed-line operator Japan Telecom. Continue