(#゜Д゜)ノ英字新聞

Govt asks NTT to cut fiber-optic fees further
In an unusual move, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry has asked NTT Corp. to further cut the fees it charges carriers for access to its fiber-optic network, according to sources.
The ministry hopes to promote competition in the fiber-optic business by lowering the costs imposed on NTT's rival companies, the sources said.
NTT, however, is opposed to the ministry's request, the sources said.
In January, NTT submitted an application to the ministry outlining new rates for other carriers wishing to access to its fiber-optic network. The Information and Communications Council, an advisory panel to the minister, plans to issue a report on the application at a special committee meeting on March 27.
Companies offering broadband services via NTT's fiber-optic network, such as KDDI Corp. and SoftBank Corp., are currently paying a monthly fee of 5,074 yen per line as a network-connection fee to NTT's two regional units--NTT East Corp. and NTT West Corp.
Because the current rate, which has been in force since fiscal 2001, will expire at the end of March, NTT had proposed cutting the network-connection fee by 7.1 percent to 4,713 yen for areas covered by NTT East and by 0.5 percent to 5,048 yen for areas covered by NTT West for the period from fiscal 2008 through fiscal 2010.
But KDDI and other carriers have taken a stand against the NTT proposal, saying the proposed rates were not significantly different from current rates.
In response, the communications ministry has asked NTT to further reduce the network-connection fee by at least a few hundred yen, concluding that reduced network-connection fees would help promote competition among telecommunications firms and eventually help reduce fees charged to end users, according to the sources.
However, NTT is reluctant to accept the ministry's request, insisting a further cut would make it difficult for the company to recover the costs of installing fiber optics, the sources said.
The ministry now hopes to gain approval from NTT by introducing a system under which those accessing NTT's fiber-optic network would be asked to shoulder a part of any losses created if network-connection fees failed to cover the costs of installation, the sources said.
According to observers, the communications ministry asked NTT to further reduce the network-connection fees out of concern over NTT's growing dominance in the fiber-optics business. Currently, NTT has a domestic market share of about 70 percent among subscribers using fiber-optic services.
When NTT proposes new fees for its fiber-optic network, it has to apply to the communications ministry, which has the Information and Communications Council examine the proposal and submit a report to the communications minister.
The council has set up a special committee to go over the application, which NTT submitted in January. But the ministry has taken the rare step of asking NTT to further reduce network-connection fees before the council makes its recommendations after receiving strong requests from NTT's rivals to have the fees lowered, according to observers.
At the end of September last year, the number of subscribers to fiber-optic networks in the country surpassed the 10 million mark to reach 10.51 million, marking a year-on-year increase of 47 percent.
But observers believe it will be difficult to maintain this momentum.
With NTT's dominance, observers say it will be difficult to further expand the market due to a lack of diverse subscription plans that might attract potential users of fiber-optic connections.
For its part, NTT insists that fees for fiber-optic services in Japan are among the lowest in the world. The telecom giant has even asked the ministry to scrap the current requirement that it provide other carriers with access to its fiber-optic network, according to the sources. In the light of such developments, negotiations over the level of network-connection fees are likely to become bogged down.