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November 21, 2010, 11:45 PM EST
By Pavel Alpeyev
(Updates with comment from Softbank in fourth paragraph.)
Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s communications ministry said it doesn’t support a “structural” breakup of Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp.’s fiber-optic business after Softbank Corp. called for such a separation.
The ministry recommends a “functional” separation of NTT’s fiber-optic business instead, Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said in a statement today in Tokyo. The government, which holds a 37 percent stake in NTT, cited speed of deployment and costs, without giving further details.
Softbank has called for a breakup of NTT to encourage adoption of broadband Internet access in Japan. NTT is counting on the fiber-optic telephone and Internet access operations to reduce its reliance on mobile-phone unit NTT DoCoMo Inc., which contributes about 75 percent of profit. Softbank President Masayoshi Son on Oct. 25 proposed creating a separate broadband access company with 500 billion yen ($6 billion) in capital.
“Functional separation as a solution is ambiguous and lacks specifics, without which it is likely to be ineffectual,” Son told reporters after a briefing today in Tokyo. “Citizens should be angry -- I know I am.”
NTT rose 0.5 percent to 3,880 yen as of 12:53 p.m. in Tokyo trading. Softbank climbed 0.6 percent, while the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 1.3 percent.
The Japanese government announced plans in March to make broadband accessible to all of the country’s households by 2015.
--Editors: Young-Sam Cho, Terje Langeland
To contact the reporter on this story: Pavel Alpeyev in Tokyo at palpeyev@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net
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(Updates with comment from Softbank in fourth paragraph.)
Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s communications ministry said it doesn’t support a “structural” breakup of Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp.’s fiber-optic business after Softbank Corp. called for such a separation.
The ministry recommends a “functional” separation of NTT’s fiber-optic business instead, Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said in a statement today in Tokyo. The government, which holds a 37 percent stake in NTT, cited speed of deployment and costs, without giving further details.
Softbank has called for a breakup of NTT to encourage adoption of broadband Internet access in Japan. NTT is counting on the fiber-optic telephone and Internet access operations to reduce its reliance on mobile-phone unit NTT DoCoMo Inc., which contributes about 75 percent of profit. Softbank President Masayoshi Son on Oct. 25 proposed creating a separate broadband access company with 500 billion yen ($6 billion) in capital.
“Functional separation as a solution is ambiguous and lacks specifics, without which it is likely to be ineffectual,” Son told reporters after a briefing today in Tokyo. “Citizens should be angry -- I know I am.”
NTT rose 0.5 percent to 3,880 yen as of 12:53 p.m. in Tokyo trading. Softbank climbed 0.6 percent, while the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 1.3 percent.
The Japanese government announced plans in March to make broadband accessible to all of the country’s households by 2015.
--Editors: Young-Sam Cho, Terje Langeland
To contact the reporter on this story: Pavel Alpeyev in Tokyo at palpeyev@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net
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