For Immediate Release
February 28, 1997
NTT Submits Business Operation Plan for Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 1998, to Minister of Posts and Telecommunications for Approval
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) announced today that it has submitted its business operation plan for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1998, to the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications for approval.
Under this plan, NTT will upgrade services by surveying customer needs and enhance its operational management for the multimedia era by making efforts to reduce costs, increase sales and establish smooth interconnection and open access networks. NTT will strengthen its R&D and disaster-prevention measures. It will also promote staff member training and new business development for the future growth of the company and contribute to its customers and shareholders as well as to society.
The telecommunications industry is expected to actively contribute to the development and efficiency of social and economic activities. Its market is developing further to meet more sophisticated, diverse, and global customer needs and taking major steps in the world trend toward the multimedia era through outstanding technological developments. Intensifying competition, especially in the long-distance telecommunications market, is going to enter an era of real service competition, involving the international market and the mobile telephone market and based on globalization and multimedia. Also, competition in the local communications markets is an emerging trend.
In these circumstances, NTT continues to provide both stable and high-quality universal services and innovative new services for a wide range of corporate and individual activities; to develop concrete activities toward realizing the multimedia era; to promote international business actively; to contribute to the achievement of telecommunications markets with fair competition; to develop infrastructure, such as optical access networks for the 21st century; and to minimize the information gaps among areas. NTT is also working for the early provision of new services, nationwide; conducting greater R&D; maintaining its public-service functions; responding to customer expectations; and contributing to society. NTT will achieve these important missions by stabilizing and ensuring its management bases.
Under NTT's operation plan for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1998, the company will implement a flexible management in response to the changing managerial environment, putting emphasis on the following items:
Attachment No. 1
NTT's Business Operation Plan for Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 1998
1. TELEPHONE SERVICES
(1) Subscribers:
Additional installations 0.2 million
Relocations 7.4 million
Expected subscribers at the end of March 1998 61.8 million
(2) Additional installations of social-welfare telephones (Silver Phone series):
Anshin (Relief) 1,000 units
Meiryo (Clearness) 100 units
Hibiki (Sound) 100 units
Fureai (Communication) 100 units
(3) Public telephones:
Additional installations and replacements 29,000 units
Public telephones with voice adjustment functions 29,000 units
Public phone booths for wheelchair users 100 units
2. TELEX SERVICES
Telex service operations will continue to be effective while economizing.
3. TELEGRAPH SERVICES
NTT will promote such measures as the maintenance and replacement of telegraph operation systems to enhance services and raise efficiency.
4. LEASED CIRCUIT SERVICES
Facilities for leased circuit services are scheduled to be installed to actively respond to demands, including those for high-speed digital transmission services, data transmission services and voice and image transmission services. The number of conventional leased circuits is expected to decrease with further shifts to Signal Supervisory Communication Service.
Conventional leased circuits: 65,000 circuits
High-speed digital transmission circuits: 68,000 circuits
5. DIGITAL DATA EXCHANGE SERVICES
The Type I packet exchange service is expected to cover most areas of expected demand. The Type II packet exchange service covers all areas nationwide; therefore, NTT plans to build equipment for packet exchange services in response to public demand.
Packet exchange service (Type I): 2,000 circuits
Packet exchange service (Type II): 5,000 circuits
6. OTHER SERVICES
(1) Facsimile communication network services
NTT plans to provide facsimile communication network services for all areas nationwide and to build equipment for the network services in response to public demand.
Expansion of facsimile communication network service: 150,000 circuits
(2) Videotex communication services
NTT plans to provide videotex communication services for all areas nationwide and to build equipment for the network services in response to public demand.
Expansion of videotex communication service: 39,000 circuits
(3) INS-Net digital services
NTT provides INS-Net 64 and INS-Net 1500 for all cities nationwide and plans to offer these services to rural areas in consideration of circumstances, such as public demand.
Expansion of INS-Net 64 subscriber lines: 830,000 circuits
Expansion of INS-Net 1500 subscriber lines: 17,000 circuits
Expansion of INS-Net service areas:167 areas
Expected service areas at the end of March 1998:4,381 areas
(4) Open Computer Network services
NTT plans to build equipment for Open Computer Network services,which were launched in December 1996, in response to public demand.
Expansion of Open Computer Network service:32,000 circuits
7. IMPROVEMENTS AND ADVANCES IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT
(1) Digitization of communications network
By the end of March 1998, NTT plans to complete the digitization of local switches to achieve a digital communications network that will be the infrastructure for the coming information-oriented society to offer innovative services and make its networks more effective and economical.
Expansion of digital local switches:1.53 million terminals
Expansion of ISDN terminals:2.9 million terminals
Expansion of digital toll switches:710,000 channels
Expansion of digital transmission lines:470 sections
(2) Satellite communications
NTT plans to introduce earth stations, such as those for satellite usage.
(3) Optical Access Network
The establishment of an Optical Access Network will actively progress in quick coordination with public demand for service sophistication and the replacement of existing metal cables.
Optical subscriber cable:1.74 million fiber km(Nationwide cover rate at the end of March 1998 will be 19%.)
(4) Disaster-prevention measures
NTT will promote needed disaster-prevention measures for telecommunications equipment, security measures for emergency
communication, crisis management and restoration systems to prepare for large-scale disaster and the support of information distribution Nafter a disaster occurs.
(5) Installation of underground transmission cables
NTT will install underground transmission cables to aid transmission stability, secure safe and comfortable passage spaces and improve the appearance of urban areas, in corporation with the local and national governments or other companies.
(6) Facility maintenance
NTT will implement facility maintenance, including cable and telephone-pole replacement, to improve customer services, ensure safety and harmony with social environments and stabilize communications systems.
8. PROMOTION OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
To meet public demand for the development of multimedia and to further strengthen the basis of NTT's business operations, it is essential to achieve the harmonious development of application technology, network service technology and network infrastructure technology. To this end, NTT will work toward the realization of (1) the electrum cyber society, an affluent society characterized by the distribution of electronic information, products and currency; (2) the mega media, a higher-speed and lower-cost network service; and (3) the photonic network to attain ultra-high-speed and high-capacity communications. Accordingly, NTT will contribute to domestic and international standardization activities as well as standardize its R&D results through technical cooperation with laboratories to promote R&D.
More specifically, NTT will conduct R&D activities as follows:
(1) Network technology
Upgrading the telecommunications network, NTT will promote R&D in the fields of network configuration, fiber-optic subscriber transmission systems and high-speed broadband communications
systems, toward the progress and expansion of ISDN. NTT will also continue promoting R&D in operation systems to improve the reliability of its networks and customer services.
(2) Terminal technology
NTT will progress in R&D on communication terminals so that customers can select from various useful services that NTT provides via an advanced telecommunications network.
(3) Combined technology
NTT will progress in R&D technologies, including various middleware technologies, which are applicable to areas previously mentioned aimed at facilitating the convenient use of a sophisticated telecommunications network.
(4) Basic technology
NTT will progress in R&D in future communications networks, advanced information processing, LSI (large scale integration) circuits and opto- electronics to contribute to the development and improvement of Japan's telecommunications industry as well as to take the lead in advanced and basic technologies for future telecommunications.
Attachment No. 2
Construction Plan for Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 1998
|
Estimated expenses
(billions of yen) |
| 1. Expansion and improvement of services |
1,600* |
| (1) Telephone |
1,322 |
| (2) Telex/Telegraph |
5 |
| (3) Leased circuits |
107 |
| (4) Digital data exchange |
20 |
| (5) Integrated services digital network |
126 |
| (6) Other services |
20 |
| 2. R&D facilities |
139 |
| 3. Other facilities |
201 |
|
| Total |
1,940 |
| Note: * Approximately 800 billion yen will be invested to improve telecommunications facilities and among those approximately 460 billion yen will be invested in digital switches and digital transmission lines. Also, approximately 240 billion yen will be invested in an Optical Access Network. |
Attachment No. 3
Revenues and Expenses Plan for Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 1998
| (billions of yen) |
| Revenues |
| Operating revenues |
6,454 |
| (1) Telephone |
4,762 |
| (2) Telex/Telegraph |
101 |
| (3) Leased circuits |
957 |
| (4) Others |
634 |
| Non-operating revenues |
74 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Total revenues |
6,528 |
| Expenses |
| Operating expenses |
| (1) Operating costs |
4,173 |
| (2) Taxes and dues |
227 |
| (3) Depreciation |
1,632 |
| Non-operating expenses |
142 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Total expenses |
6,174 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Recurring profit |
354 |
Attachment No. 4
Plan of Sources and Applications of Funds for Fiscal Year Ending March 31, 1998
| (billions of yen) |
| Sources: |
| Operational: |
| Operating revenues |
7,486 |
| 79 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Subtotal |
7,565 |
|
|
| Financial: |
| Long-term loans and bonds |
334 |
| Others |
0 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Subtotal |
334 |
|
| Estimated consumption tax |
330 |
| Brought forward from the previous fiscal year |
421 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Total |
8,650 |
|
| Applications: |
| Operational: |
| Operating expenses |
5,140 |
| Non-operating expenses |
139 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Subtotal |
5,279 |
|
| Financial: |
|
| Capital investments for property, plant and equipment |
1,940 |
| Other financial expenses |
513 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Subtotal |
2,453 |
|
| Closing account expenses |
216 |
| Temporarily-paid consumption tax |
204 |
| Carry forward to following year |
498 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Total |
8,650 |
