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| March 7, 2000 |
| For Immediate Release |
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Submits Business Operation Plan for Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2001
to Minister of Posts and Telecommunications for Approval |
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corporation (NTT East) today submitted to the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications for approval its business operation plan for Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 2001.
In the building of an advanced information society, information and communications are expected to make a substantial contribution to invigorating and enhancing the efficiency of socioeconomic activity, and as needs grow more sophisticated, diverse, and global in character, the market for them will expand and develop further. In addition, rapid progress towards a multimedia age has become a global trend, powered by the substantial strides that are being made in technological innovation. On the other hand, the structure of the communications market is undergoing dramatic change, characterized by surging demand for mobile communications and data communications. At the same time, a stream of companies are making new entries into markets with growth potential, and competition is also growing swiftly in regional communications markets.
Amid this operating environment, NTT East will not only strive to provide high-quality, stable universal services, but will also devote itself to promoting the development of optical access networks, contributing to the formation of a fair telecommunications market, improving applied research and development, and ensuring reliability and communality in the field of telecommunications, including the appropriate management of customer information. At the same time it will strive to contribute to the community by fostering the development of information distribution, including through the provision of new services-using digital infrastructure-that are useful for a wide range of both corporate and individual activity, and by enhancing the stability and strength of its management base.
In the management of business operations for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2001, based upon this fundamental thinking NTT East will make every effort to ascertain people's opinions and demands swiftly and accurately, including their growing needs in the area of connection to the Internet, and to develop and deploy services accordingly. In the face of the present very difficult operating environment it will also devote its full energies to reducing costs and generating earnings based on the Mid-term Restructuring Plan announced in November 1999. In addition, it will ensure the ongoing development of stable operations by working vigorously to assure the smoothness of connections and the openness of networks, to strengthen disaster countermeasures, to develop its human resources and undertake new business operations, and to position itself to return the fruits of these measures to customers, the community, and-through the holding company-to shareholders.
In line with this thinking, for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2001, NTT East will give priority to the following categories in the conduct of its business management, and will do so flexibly so as to respond to changes in the operating environment.
| 1. | Voice Transmission Services |
(1) |
Subscriber Telephones |
NTT East will respond to all demand for subscriber telephones, including the relocation of existing lines. The number of subscribers is projected to total approximately 25.77 million by the end of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2001.
| Item | Planned Number |
| Additional Installations | (1.74) million subscribers |
| Relocations | 4.47 million subscribers |
|
(2) |
Social-Welfare Telephones |
The advance of the welfare society has been accompanied by a greater social requirement for telecommunications services in the sphere of welfare. To respond to this need, NTT East will continue to promote the installation of welfare-related products, such as its "Silver Phones Series" (Anshin [Relief], Meiryo [Clearness], Hibiki [Sound], and Fureai [Communication]).
| Item | Planned Number |
| Silver Phones | |
| Anshin (Relief) | +600 units |
| Meiryo (Clearness) | +200 units |
|
(3) |
Public Telephones |
NTT East will promote the installation of IC-Card public telephones, and also continue to promote the installation of social welfare public telephones such as public telephones with a volume adjustment function, and public telephone boxes usable by people in wheelchairs. In this way, it will strive to improve social welfare facilities and public services.
| Item | Planned Number |
| IC-Card Public Telephones | +20,000 units |
| Public Telephones with Volume Adjustment Function | +20,000 units |
|
(4) |
INS-Net Digital Services |
INS-Net digital services can be provided in all of the regions in which there is forecast to be demand. The numbers of INS-Net 64 lines and INS-Net 1500 lines are projected to total approximately 4,931,000 and 67,000, respectively, by the end of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2001.
| Item | Planned Number |
| INS-Net 64 Subscriber Lines | +1,502,000 circuits |
| INS-Net 1500 Subscriber Lines | +20,000 circuits |
|
2. |
Data Transmission Services |
IP connection services, which enable all connection from INS-Net to the Internet to be made for a standing charge, will be provided on a full-scale basis after a trial period of provision of the services has been completed.
|
3. |
Leased Circuit Services |
In the field of leased circuit services, NTT East is planning to install the facilities needed to cater to the increasingly varied demand for circuits, including for high-speed digital transmission and voice and image transmission.
| Item | Planned Number |
| Conventional Leased Circuits | (53,000) circuits |
| High-Speed Digital Transmission Circuits | +49,000 circuits |
|
4. |
Telegraph Services |
NTT East will continue to conduct the maintenance of systems and other operations in order to further improve services and to promote increased operating efficiency in its telegraph services.
|
5. |
Improvements and Advances in Telecommunications Equipment |
(1) |
Optical Access Network |
The switchover to the use of optical fibers in the access network will be actively promoted in accordance with factors such as the state of public demand.
| Item | Planned Number |
| Optical Subscriber Cables | +1 million fiber km |
| (Cover rate at the end of March 2001 will be 48%.) |
|
(2) |
Telecommunications Network |
In its telecommunications network, NTT East will not only meet demand, but at the same time will further upgrade network services and improve network economy and efficiency.
|
(3) |
Disaster-Prevention Measures |
NTT East will take all necessary measures in the sphere of disaster-prevention measures. These will include disaster-prevention measures for telecommunications equipment and facilities, measures to ensure emergency communications, and measures to strengthen the structure for crisis management and the restoration of systems if large-scale disasters occur, and to assist with the distribution of information.
|
(4) |
Installation of Underground Transmission Cables |
With regard to the burying of transmission cables, from the standpoint of improving the reliability of communications facilities, ensuring safe and pleasant passage spaces, and enhancing the appearance of urban areas, NTT East will work in cooperation with the national and local governments and with other companies.
|
(5) |
Facility Maintenance |
The maintenance of facilities will be directed at ensuring stable and high-quality services, including by the ongoing replacement of cables and of wooden telephone poles. Through this, NTT East will aim not only to maintain customer services, but also to ensure stable operations, harmonization with the social environment, and the stabilization of communications systems.
Given the very difficult operating environment during the year under review, NTT East will seek to minimize costs by making very exhaustive use of existing equipment and facilities.
|
6. |
Promotion of R&D Activities |
To further strengthen the foundation of its activities, and to respond to public demand for multimedia development, NTT East will promote research and development in the spheres of network systems and access systems, so as to improve the sophistication of telecommunications networks. In addition, to position itself to give customers the choice of a diverse range of convenient services through sophisticated telecommunications networks, NTT East will also conduct research and development in such areas as multimedia applications, with a view to providing communications terminals of various types and information and communications services that make possible safe and convenient information distribution.
A summary of the business plans for the above principal services and plant and equipment investment plans are outlined in the attached tables.
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