As a level playing field has yet to be laid down in the Japanese telecom market, the establishment of an independent watchdog to keep in check the otherwise formidable NTT Corp. group would be one good option to realize free and fair competition, according to a top executive of the Japanese unit of British Telecommunications PLC.
"I think one difference between Europe and Japan is that when the (Japanese) government deregulated they didn't establish an independent regulator," Chris North, chief operating officer and senior vice president at BT Japan Co., said during a recent interview.
In Britain, the Office of Telecommunications was set up under the Telecommunications Act of 1984 as a watchdog over BT to secure free and fair domestic competition.