"Dynamic business development will be pursued overseas by reorganising subsidiaries into regions, such as the Americas, Europe and Asia, which will operate under centralised regional control," NTT said in a statement.

NTT will also merge international call carrier unit NTT Worldwide Network Corp into a long-distance company to be created in NTT's planned 1999 reorganisation.

NTT president Junichiro Miyazu told a news conference that the company also would seek partners in expanding its global operations with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region.

A statement from the company said: "to expand global services provided by the NTT group under the Arcstar brand name, NTT will actively invest in and participate in the management of international carriers in other Asian countries."

It did not specify the companies or thecountries.

Miyazu also said he did not think NTT should further reduce its stake in NTT DoCoMo after its listing scheduled on October 22.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) said that NTT DoCoMo had applied for listing on its first section.

NTT DoCoMo will issue 327,000 new shares at the time of listing, TSE said in a statement.

NTT, which held 94.68 percent of NTT DoCoMo as of August 17, will separately offer 218,000 NTT DoCoMo shares, the statement said.