Telecommunications

September 2002

The Public Management Ministry will soon set up a study group with private-sector and academic members to improve content used in high-speed/capacity communications services. The panel's private-sector members will include representatives from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Toyota Motor Corp., Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc.and Fuji Television Network Inc. among others. The group will study ways to promote content distribution, technology development and standardization, as well as methods to spread the use of digital home appliances. These products are expected to become key communications terminals, along with personal computers in the near future. It will also look into ways to charge for such content. Building infrastructure for high-capacity communications has substantially progressed, such as DSL (digital subscriber line), cable TV and optical fiber networks, but the equipment has not been used very much so far. The ministry believes one of the factors hampering their full-scale use is the lack of content, and hopes to see the panel's ideas reflected in a package of government strategies for "e-Japan," by next summer. (September 23, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun)

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (NTT) plans to reduce capital spending for fixed-line telephone networks in fiscal 2004 by 80% from the fiscal 2001 level to 20 billion Yen. Total capital investment on a consolidated basis will remain flat at 2.2 trillion Yen, as the telecom giant will double expenditures for fiber-optic networks for shifting focus to its broadband communications service. According to the NTT's capital spending plan for fiscal 2004, about 900 billion Yen will be spent on fixed-line communications operated by its two regional units, NTT East Corp. and NTT West Corp., as well as NTT Communications Corp. The firm will also spend 1.3 trillion Yen for mobile phone operations, mainly at NTT DoCoMo Inc. The 20 billion Yen investment in regular telephone services of these three regional carriers will only cover the maintenance of existing switches. Some 330 billion Yen will be earmarked to expand the FTTH fiber-optic network for households, while 590 billion Yen will be invested in other telecommunications infrastructure. During fiscal 2001, NTT spent 105 billion Yen on fixed-line telephone operations and 164 billion Yen on fiber-optic networks. This fiscal year, NTT plans group-based capital investment totaling 2.3 trillion Yen. (September 11, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun)

Japanese government panel urges two regional units of Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. (NTT) to set different interconnection fees. The move could pave the way for NTT East Corp. and NTT West Corp. to change the interconnection fees which they charge to carriers that access their fixed-line phone networks. It is unnatural for them to treat interconnection fees in the same way, according to the telecommunications panel. The panel proposed in an interim report that NTT East could cut its interconnection fee to 3.59 Yen from the current 4.5 Yen for every three minutes, while NTT West could raise its interconnection fee to 4.75 Yen from 4.5 Yen per 3 minutes, over the next two fiscal years starting April 2003. In the report, the telecommunication panel of the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications said that it would be appropriate for each of the two units to determine its own interconnection fees, as they are separate business units of NTT Group. The panel also said that the two units should take into account the impact of changes in their interconnection fees on their businesses and customers, and should carry out other steps such as introducing fee changes in stages. (September 13, Dow Jones)