NTT, Inc. (NTT株式会社) (formerly known as Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (日本電信電話株式会社)), is a Japanese telecommunications holding company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Ranked 128th in Fortune Global 500, NTT is the sixth-largest telecommunications company in the world in terms of revenue,[3] as well as the 17th largest publicly traded company in Japan by market capitalization, and the 6th largest by revenue, as of January 2026.[4] In 2025, the company was ranked 79th in the Forbes Global 2000.[5] NTT was the world's largest company by market capitalization in the late 1980s, and remained among the world's top 10 largest companies by market cap until the burst of the Dot-com bubble in the early 2000s.[6]
The company traces its origin to the national telegraph service established in 1868, which came under the purview of the Ministry of Communications in the 1880s as part of a postal, telegraph and telephone service. In 1952, the telegraph and telephone services were spun off as the government-owned Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation (日本電信電話公社). Under Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, the company was privatised in 1985 along with the Japan Tobacco and Salt Public Corporation and subsequently the Japanese National Railways two years later, adopting the previous name until July 2025.[7] While NTT has been listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange since 1987, the Japanese government still owns roughly one-third of NTT's shares, regulated by the NTT Law (Law Concerning Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Etc. (日本電信電話株式会社等に関する法律)).[8]
The company is incorporated pursuant to the NTT Law.[8] The purpose of the company defined by the law is to own all the shares issued by NTT East and NTT West and to ensure proper and stable provision of telecommunications services all over Japan including remote rural areas by these companies as well as to conduct foundational research in telecommunications, developing the core technologies that will underpin the future of global connectivity. On 1 July 2019, NTT Corporation launched NTT Ltd., an $11 billion de facto holding company business consisting of 28 brands from across NTT Security, NTT Communications and Dimension Data.[9]
Since its privatization in 1985, the abbreviation "NTT" has become synonymous with the brand name. Following amendments to the NTT Law permitting a change in its official trade name, the company was renamed Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (日本電信電話株式会社) to NTT, Inc. (NTT株式会社), effective 1 July 2025.
History
Established as a state monopoly in August 1952 to take over the Japanese telecommunications system, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation (日本電信電話公社) was privatized in 1985 to encourage competition in the country's telecom market, making Japan the second country in the world (after the United States) to deregulate its telecom market. In 1987, NTT made the largest stock offering to date, at US$36.8 billion.[10][11]
Because NTT owns most of Japan's last mile infrastructure (including broadband fibre connections), it has oligopolistic control over most landlines in Japan. In order to stimulate local competition, the company was divided into a holding company (NTT) and three telecom companies (NTT East, NTT West, and NTT Communications) in 1999. The NTT Law regulating NTT East and West requires them to serve only short-distance communications and obligates them to maintain fixed-line telephone service all over the country. They are also obligated to lease their unused optical fiber (dark fiber) to other carriers at regulated rates. NTT Communications is not regulated by the NTT Law.
In July 2010, NTT and South African IT company Dimension Data Holdings
Subsidiaries
NTT Group consists of the following major companies, divided into five segments. NTT East, NTT West, NTT Communications, NTT Docomo, and NTT Data are most major subsidiaries. NTT Data is listed on the stock markets. NTT Urban Development is a subsidiary involved in real estate.[16] NTT Communications' business outside of Japan became part of NTT Ltd. on 1 July 2019.[9]
Regional
- Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corporation (NTT East)
- Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Corporation (NTT West)
Long distance and international
R&D laboratories
In 2023, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)’s Annual PCT Review ranked Nippon Telegraph and Telephone's number of patent applications published under the PCT System as 10th in the world, with 1,760 patent applications being published during 2023.[21]
- Service Innovation Laboratory Group
- Service Evolution Laboratories (Yokosuka)
- Media Intelligence Laboratories (Yokosuka)
- Software Innovation Center (Musashino and Shibaura)
- Secure Platform Laboratories (Musashino)
- Information Network Laboratory Group
- Network Technology Laboratories (Musashino)
- Network Service Systems Laboratories (Musashino)
- Access Network Service Systems Laboratories (Tsukuba and Yokoska)
Sponsorship
- Omiya Ardija and Roasso Kumamoto (Japanese football clubs formerly affiliated with NTT)
- Dandelion Racing, Super Formula team affiliated with NTT Docomo.
- Chip Ganassi Racing in the IndyCar Series (affiliated with NTT Data, drivers include Ryan Briscoe, Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon, Ed Jones, and Felix Rosenqvist). In 2019, NTT also became title sponsor of the series.[22]
- NTT Pro Cycling, UCI WorldTeam cycling team based in South Africa
- Naoya Inoue professional boxer affiliated with NTT Docomo.[23]
See also
- Telegraph
- Telephone
- List of telephone operating companies
External links
References
- Annual Securities Report (For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025) Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, 2025-06-20, retrieved 2026-01-09^
- The Japanese Government Asset System and Current Conditions Ministry of Finance Japan, March 2019, retrieved 27 May 2019^
- Fortune Global 500 – The largest companies in the world by revenue