He said he then approached independent telephone companies, which might license his invention for their own proprietary use. Infrastructure High Tech companies are trying to convince landlords to let them pry their way on to rooftops to erect antennas for beaming telephone and high speed Internet services to tenants. However, they are running headlong into major obstacles. There are about 750,000 office buildings in the nation. If telecom companies fail to get access to rooftops, they could remain shut out of broad swaths of the multibillion-dollar frontier of the Internet and local phone competition.
Landlords demand a rich share of the spoils.
Some are launching their own telecommunications ventures from the inside. The FCC is proposing rules that would force landlords to provide access at negotiated rates. Mr. Mori told supporters Saturday that NTT should be fully privatized, and indicated his intention to call for an early sale of government-held NTT shares. However, a change in the law would be required for the government to sell all its NTT holdings. NTT, a former phone monopoly, still controls almost all local calls.