Japan's NTT Communications is aiming to forge a major partnership with Telstra as part of the Australian operator's goal of expanding in Asia-Pacific.
NTT Com ICT chief Monte Davis toldFairfax Media that he plans to sit down with Telstra CEO David Thodey to discuss the operator's expansion plans and possible partnership opportunities.
Telstra aims to earn around 33% of its revenues from Asia-Pacific by 2020 – up from just 3% today. Due to a shortage of viable takeover options, partnering with NTT would be one of the only ways to achieve this goal, Davis argued.
Possible areas of partnership involve Telstra using NTT Com's extensive data center assets and using NTT Com networks to connect to countries in the region.
The alternative would be Telstra spending billions to buy operators in the region, and Telstra could also find it difficult to compete with regional players including NTT Com and SingTel, Davis added.
Telstra has already pursuing some regional partnerships to fulfill its APAC expansion plans. In January, the operator announced an alliance with PT Telkom involving the provision of joint network applications and services in the Indonesian market.
Ovum research director David Kennedy told Fairfax that instead of NTT Com, a smarter move for Telstra might be to partner with one of China's telecom giants, as they have significant resources and are looking for ways to expand outside of their domestic markets.