Advisors to the Japanese government will recommend that Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp be split into three from April 1998, comprising one long-distance operator and two regional companies covering east and west Japan: ministers will decide on a policy by the end of March and submit it to parliament next January; panel chairman Mitsuharu Ito said the long distance carrier should be fully privatised and allowed to offer cable and cellular services, while the two regional companies would have to wait a while before offering long distance, cable and cellular services; the panel will also urge the scrapping of a law barring Kokusai Denshin Denwa Co Ltd from the domestic phone business, while allowing Nippon Telegraph to expand into the international business.
