Our ratings on Japan-based communications company Nippon Telegraph&Telephone Corp. (NTT) reflect its leading position in Japan's major telecommunications and broadband markets, and its high profitability and top market share in its mobile business, which is a pillar of the company's earnings. Also, NTT is by far the largest fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) service provider in the broadband business in Japan. Standard&Poor's Ratings Services also factors into the ratings the company's systems integration business, which contributes increasingly to total earnings, and its extremely strong financial standing, supported by the company's solid ability to generate cash flow. On the other hand, constraints on the ratings include declining market shares in its mobile communications and FTTH businesses due to intensifying competition
