NTT Corp. has yet to submit a plan aimed at promoting competition in the telecom market as it is still reluctant to reduce equity stakes in its group firms, telecom minister Toranosuke Katayama said Friday.
Katayama, minister of public management, home affairs, posts and telecommunications, told a news conference that he believes NTT will soon respond to some of the demands made by the government earlier this year.
In May, the ministry ordered the Japanese telecom giant to submit, by September, a plan to reduce equity stakes in its group firms, which include NTT DoCoMo Inc. The plan was also meant to feature measures to open up NTT's regional telecom networks to competitors and streamline its operations.
Katayama said he expects NTT to unveil a plan shortly to open up its telecom networks in a "positive manner" and to slash costs via some 110,000 redundancies.
Regarding the cutting of NTT's equity stakes in its group firms, Katayama said, "I heard that they are still reluctant. So, I instructed them to make necessary adjustments."