Japan repeated its request July 1 that the U.S. Federal Communications Commission grant licenses to two leading telecommunications firms to operate international services based in the United States.
Hisao Horinouchi, minister for posts and telecommunications, urged FCC Chairman Reed Hundt to quickly solve the problem, hopefully before he leaves the commission's top post, a ministry official told reporters. Although his term runs through August 31, 1998, Hundt had earlier expressed his intention to leave the commission as soon as his successor is found.
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. and KDD, Japan's largest domestic and international telecommunications operators, have been applying to the FCC for licenses to set up U.S.-based international operations. The FCC normally grants such licenses 35 days after the applications are received. NTT and KDD -- which respectively fielded applications in January and February -- have yet to be granted such a license due to what Washington describes as "trade concerns."