Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp, aiming to transform itself from a telephone company into a multimedia superpower, will launch a new network business in January to tap explosive demand for computer communications. It also plans to open up its network for use by rival internet access providers and leased-line providers, partly to counter support for the government’s proposed break-up of the company. The new service, called the Open Computer Network, will be a data transmission network giving users access to the internet and private lines for computer communications. The system will use routers, which cost only a small fraction of conventional telephone exchange systems used in voice communications. Nippon will spend only $110m on the project during its first year; the company hopes eventually, through affiliates, to launch businesses such as security-related applications on the network, which will also pose a serious threat to existing internet and leased line providers that use more expensive systems such as telephone exchanges. It will charge $275 to $366 a month for a 128Kbps line. The same lines via telephone exchanges cost $2,568 a month for Osaka-Tokyo services.
