The ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday blasted proposed changes to the telecom law, claiming they would undermine Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.'s international competitiveness, LDP officials said.
Legislators on an LDP telecom policymaking panel took issue with an outline of telecom bills prepared by the Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications Ministry, making it uncertain whether the legislation will clear the Diet by the end of this month as the government plans.
The outline includes a call for recognizing NTT's two regional carriers, NTT East Corp. and NTT West Corp., as well as mobile phone giant NTT DoCoMo Inc. as monopolistic entities to be regulated by new restrictions.
The legislation would, however, give the telecom giant more freedom by allowing NTT East and NTT West to provide Internet services and ease rules regarding NTT ownership. The NTT law now requires the state to hold more than one-third of NTT shares while limiting the foreign equity stake to under 20 percent.
The bills also include a proposal to establish an independent body to settle disputes among telecom carriers and a joint fund to be set up by carriers to guarantee uniform service quality nationwide.
The ministry drafted the outline based on recommendations submitted Dec. 21 by an advisory panel to the former posts and telecommunications minister.