Japan's NTT Group outlined its three-year business plan (FY2003-2005), including its vision for a new optical generation of broadband services. Some key trends and strategies highlighted in the announcement include:
- with the proliferation of competition and increased penetration of various DSL services, Japan is poised to enter "the full scale broadband era"
the expansion of flat-rate access services and the full-fledged penetration of IP telephones and IP-VPN are accelerating the shift in traffic from fixed-line telephones to IP networks
growth in mobile communications has slowed given that there were 80 million subscribers in Japan at the end of 2002. Competition is expected to become even more intense with the continued slashing of rates and the introduction of high-performance applications.
The Asian markets are gaining greater importance as demand for IP solutions grows, primarily among Japanese-affiliated companies in the region, and as markets for mobile phones continue to grow rapidly in China and elsewhere in Asia. NTT Communications will especially focus on the Asian region.
The NTT Group is dedicated to developing "total services" that integrate everything from terminals and access to platforms and applications. The NTT Group will pursue partnerships and alliances in various fields to deliver this vision. The company is targeting the spring of 2005 to rollout new business services in major metro areas that deliver this new, integrated collaborative communication environment.
The NTT Group has identified optical access as the mainstay of its broadband services and NTT will concentrate its marketing efforts in this field. The company is working to shorten significantly the installation time for direct fiber connections. It will also continue marketing ADSL aggressively by engaging in competition while identifying potential users for optical access.
Best-effort IP telephone services will be offered as an option to ADSL, to respond to competition and user needs.
NTT DoCoMo will continue to expand the service area of FOMA, its 3G service, including in underground areas and inside buildings.
NTT is committed to R&D activities with both 3-to-5 year and 10-year time horizons.
The NTT Group will accelerate the pace of business and financial reform, especially in terms of outsourcing many functions to other firms.
The NTT Group is calling on government authorities to review regulations so as to provide incentives for capital investment, especially related to optical infrastructure and broadband services. The company warns that the accelerated shift to IP means that it will become increasingly difficult to maintain the current fixed-line telephone network. Regulations must take into account the requirements of maintaining universal services amidst today's competition.
