NTT Com Subsidiaries and Offices

NTT Com entered the Greater China (G.C.) market including mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan over a decade ago, aiming to get in on the ground floor of the world’s most promising economy. One of NTT Com’s key companies in G.C. is NTT Communications China Co., Ltd. (NTT Com China), which was formed in Shanghai in 2004 to strength information and communication technology (ICT) services in G.C.

In total, NTT Com provides ICT services in G.C. through six entities. In Hong Kong, an important Asian hub for many Western multinationals, NTT Com has two subsidiaries, NTT Com Asia Ltd. (HK), which mainly provides Arcstar-brand international telecommunications services, and HK Net Company Ltd., a wholly owned Internet service provider. In mainland China, two joint ventures, Shanghai NTT Telecommunications Engineering Co., Ltd. and Beijing Telecom NTT Engineering Co. Ltd., support the networking needs of the growing number of Japanese corporations in the country. Finally, NTT Taiwan Ltd. rounds out NTT Com’s current organization in the region.

“With our vast experience in G.C., we have been involved in more than 5,000 projects, which has given us valuable expertise in both the business environment and technological needs of the G.C. market,” said Takashi Inose, G.C. regional head of NTT Com.

With the G.C. economy growing at a rapid pace, enterprises are having difficulty finding high-quality managers to guide their ICT operations. “We are not only providing much-needed help in ICT management, we also are nurturing talented ICT managers through our own operations,” observed Inose. NTT Com employs about 330 people in G.C., of which more than 90% had been hired in the region as of the end of last year, and another 100 employees are expected to be added by the end of this year. NTT Com’s next move will be to establish a customer service center (CSC) in Dalian, the hub of China’s software industry, in October. The plan is to use Chinese ICT managers to interface with domestic and multinational corporations and help provide support services, such as virus detection and server monitoring. The company feels that Chinese managers are crucial, because they best understand the G.C. market, including its business practices and, most importantly, its people.

Another CSC will be set up in the future in southern China because it is the focal point of the nation’s auto industry. NTT Com expects the center to find ample business among the growing number of enterprises seeking network management services.

While the majority of NTT Com’s customers are Japanese corporations, many U.S. and European multinationals are expanding the company’s customer base in China. In fact, the company serves more Western multinationals than Japanese firms in Hong Kong. In particular, multinationals highly value the strength of NTT Com’s global support system, which encompasses regional centers in the U.S., Europe, Japan and many locations in Asia. “We can provide high-quality, market-tested services to enterprises of any nationality. In G.C., we have more than 1,000 corporate clients, and we intend to double this number by early 2008,” explained Inose. “In addition to more Japanese corporate customers, we also expect to attract Western multinationals who are already using our services in other countries.”

China has become a crucial market for many corporations seeking to become key global players. According to Inose, “Our mission is to help global players meet their ICT needs through our high-quality network-management and managed- IT services. If a market is a must for these companies, then it is a must for us too.”

Takashi Inose has specialized in enterprise services since joining NTT Com in 1977. His first position in China came in 1998, when he advised Shanghai NTT Telecommunications Engineering Company’s newly launched Enterprise Division. He has served as CEO of NTT Com China since 2004 and is concurrently regional head of Greater China for NTT Com, providing his extensive expertise in enterprise services and solutions to the region.