Foundation: 1952
Headquarters: Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo
President: Jun Sawada
Executive Summary: The Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, commonly known as NTT, is a Japanese telecommunications company. From its establishment in 1952 until 1985, it was a state-owned enterprise. Currently, the NTT Group consists of NTT East, NTT West, NTT Communications, and NTT Docomo. In 1985, the company was privatized to create competition in the communications market. NTT works to ensure the stable supply of telecommunications to all areas of Japan, including remote regions. Today, NTT is regulated by the NTT Law which states that the government holds one third of the company’s shares. Following the Pacific War, the firm was responsible for rebuilding and expanding the nation’s damaged communications networks. A year after NTT’s establishment, the number of telephone subscribers grew to 1.5 million. Telephone growth reached twenty million by 1972. The culmination of this expansion occurred in 1977 when NTT was able to make telephone access available nationwide. Although the company now has been diversifying into new markets, its telephone service still makes up 80% of its annual income. Another lucrative market NTT ventured into was the computer microchip industry. These chips have been in high demand due to their use in advanced technology. NTT boosts Japan’s role as one of the major players in the microchip market today. In 1967, the company became involved in data communications, establishing the Data Communications Bureau, or NTT Data, within the company. NTT Data later broke off to become its own firm in 1988. The next company that branched off from the mother company was NTT Docomo, the mobile phone unit, in 1991. During the rise of the internet, the company established OCN, or the Open Computer Network, in 1996. NTT became one of the largest companies in the world, and a near-monopoly in Japan. After a fifteen year long argument with the government, NTT finally agreed to divide itself in 1996. The companies that launched as a result of this agreement were NTT East, NTT West, and NTT Communications. During the 2000s, NTT began making acquisitions of companies such as Dell Services, Dimension Data, and Keane. During this period, the company began to offer cloud services. In 2019, most of NTT’s branch businesses were consolidated under the NTT Corporation to strengthen their global presence. The firm has made many profitable international investments in the telecom sector. This includes fixed line operations in Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Philippines, and Australia. Verio, an internet data services and web hosting provider based in the United States, is also owned by the company. Its annual income is in the range of US$110 billion.