LONDON (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) April 27, 1999--Standard&Poor's today assigned its double-'A'-plus rating to Nippon Telegraph&Telephone Corp.'s (NTT) euro 750 million 3.75% series 1 Eurobonds due May 15, 2006. The outlook is stable. The rating reflects NTT's very strong position in the Japanese telecommunications market and its solid financial performance amid increasing competition and industry deregulation. Earnings stability is underpinned by the company's dominant position in Japan's fixed-line local network market, as well as the substantial profit contribution in recent years from its consolidated subsidiary, NTT Mobile Communications Network Inc. (NTT DoCoMo), which leads the country's growing cellular phone market. Meteoric growth in the cellular business has offset a gradual slowdown in earnings growth from fixed-line
