Munish MALHOTRA

Hello, I am fascinated with this discussion. I have some questions about Softbank's relationship with NTT.

First, is there a written contract between NTT to lease lines to Softbank at a specific price? If there is, what are the terms? (i.e. timeframe, pricing, etc.)

Second, do you think NTT will retaliate against Softbank and if so, how?

IKEDA Nobuo

Yes, Softbank is borrowing NTT's dark fiber with 3.9 yen per meter per month, as I wrote in my article. The "overlay price" of the access line is now 168 yen per month. Both are the cheapest price in the world. The tariff is regulated by government.

NTT is lowering the price of ADSL, but not committed to ADSL. NTT is going to retaliate against Softbank by Fiber To The Home (FTTH). So far it has not yet worked because FTTH is more expensive and difficult to deploy.

• Everyone should be able to afford to deliver 384 kbps DSL at $40 month. If not they are too inefficient. by Kevin WERBACH (February 26, 2003)
  ⇒Response to Kevin WERBACH by IKEDA Nobuo (February 28, 2003)
• What would be the possible response by NTT on its reorganization? by Cheng JOO (March 27, 2003)
  ⇒Response to Cheng JOO by IKEDA Nobuo (March 28, 2003)
• NTT & Softbank relationship by Munish MALHOTRA (May 12, 2003)
  ⇒Response to Munish MALHOTRA by IKEDA Nobuo (May 13, 2003)