Following the Diet's passage of three telecommunications bills to breakup Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. into three firms under the control of a single holding company, NTT President Junichiro Miyazu said on June 13 that the reorganization will globalize Japan's telecommunications industry.

NTT will soon submit a request to the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry to set up an international telephone service subsidiary, Miyazu said, adding that the new telecom will first focus on corporate clients and gradually expand its service to individual customers. He declined to comment on the size of the new company or the details of its services.

Miyazu said NTT will reorganize itself by the end of fiscal 1999 in preparation for the scheduled breakup. NTT will be divided into three firms under the control of a holding company based on guidelines expected to be drawn up later this year by the Post and Telecommunications Ministry. "We must first draw up an overall picture and concept of the breakup before deciding on a detailed time schedule," he said.

Commenting on global alliances that have been formed by the world's major telecom companies, such as Concert formed by British Telecommunications PLC and MCI Communications Corp., Miyazu said that NTT has no intention of joining any of the groups because the company needs to remain flexible with regard to the companies it will work with in the future. "We don't want to reduce our choice of partners by joining one of the alliances," he said.