The two regional operators of the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. group said Wednesday they expect sales to fall steeply in fiscal 2001 due to intensifying price competition.
NTT East Corp. and NTT West Corp. also said they anticipate sharp drops in the number of conventional fixed-phone lines
NTT East projects sales of 2.733 trillion yen for fiscal 2001, down 116 billion yen from the estimate for the current fiscal year, which ends in March.
But the firm plans to secure pretax profits of 27 billion yen, up 7 billion yen from this year's estimate, through cost-cutting efforts such as reducing its workforce by 4,000 personnel and scaling down equipment investment.
NTT West, meanwhile, projects 2.594 trillion yen in sales for the next fiscal year, down 120 billion yen from this year.
The company also expects pretax losses of 84 billion yen for fiscal 2001, compared to 92 billion yen in pretax losses for the current fiscal year. In an effort to cut expenditures, it plans to reduce its workforce by 2,700 in fiscal 2001.
NTT East and West said they are likely to see steep falls in the number of conventional fixed phone lines in use, from the current 49.92 million to 47.86 million next fiscal year.
The two NTT group companies plan to increase the number of high-speed asymmetrical digital subscriber lines (ADSLs) to 1.55 million by the March 2002 end of fiscal 2001, up sharply from 100,000 a year earlier.