TOKYO (Standard&Poor's) Feb. 15, 2006--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today assigned its 'AA-' rating to Nippon Telegraph&Telephone Corp. (NTT: AA-/Stable/A-1+) Swiss Franc 250 million 2.25% bonds due 2013. The rating on NTT reflects the NTT group's extremely strong position in the fixed-line, mobile telecommunications, and broadband markets in Japan, and its ability to maintain stable cash flow and a solid financial profile despite profitability weakening in its traditional local fixed-line business, and average revenue per user (ARPU) decreasing in its mobile telecommunications business operated by NTT DoCoMo. The company's ongoing cost reductions, and the prospects for high growth of the broadband business--in which NTT leads in both asymmetric digital subscriber lines (ADSL) and optical fiber lines
