Tokyo-based NTT Communications Corp., a global company with an office in Atlanta, sees Latin America as its next big growth market for corporate Internet services, company vice president Michael Wheeler told GlobalAtlanta.
“We don’t have a network presence there yet but we have certainly been looking at that very closely,” Mr. Wheeler said in a recent interview during the Over the Top TV & Video Conference in Atlanta. “I have been doing a lot of research on that. “
NTT has as many Internet customers in the United States as it does in Asia, with Europe ranking third.
That stems largely from the fact that almost 10 years ago, NTT acquired Englewood, Colo.-based Verio Inc. for $5 billion.
NTT will also likely soon expand in India, where it already has invested several billion dollars but has not yet launched Internet service, Mr. Wheeler added.
“It’s really a matter of when not if,” he said of the company’s Indian expansion.
NTT Communications is an arm of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. and has an Atlanta hub.
“Atlanta plays such a key part in this part of the country as far as business and enterprise customers,” said Mr. Wheeler. “There are so many regional and corporate headquarters that are based here.”
NTT is one of more than 300 Japanese companies with a presence in Georgia, a trend that started in the early 1970s when zipper manufacturer YKK Corp. decided to open a factory in Macon.
As more and more U.S. companies build factories in Asia, NTT sees the U.S. market as particularly promising.
“If you have plants in Asia, we can provide service from Japan, from the Philippines directly to China through our network,” said Mr. Wheeler.
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