JAPAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY - COMPETITION AND REGULATORY REFORM

Japanese policy making over the past decade has been focused on reform of NTT. This article first reconsiders the privatization of NTT from the different perspectives of NTT and MPT and elaborates the problems faced in introducing competition. It discusses the present structure o f the telecommunications industry and the regulatory issues which need to be addressed as Japan's industry begins to make the transition to both a competitive market structure and a multimedia industry. It argu es that reform of NTT alone should not form the basis for future telec ommunications policy making in Japan.