IBM, NTT in $13.8 b. service tie-up

TOKYO: IBM Japan Ltd., the Japanese unit of International Business Machines

Corp, and Japan's NTT said on Tuesday they had agreed to cooperate in the

information technology sector in a tie-up that would be worth 1.5 trillion yen

($13.80 billion) over 10 years.

IBM Japan and NTT Comware, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japanese telecom

giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp, said in a statement issued before

beginning a joint briefing that the alliance would cover application

development, user support and other IT-related areas.

It will begin in December.

Industry sources said on Monday that the agreement gives the world's No. 1

computer maker a big boost in telecom services in Asia.

It represents IBM's largest outsourcing deal in Asia so far, the sources

said.

(C) Reuters Limited 2000.