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NTT Smart Connect has been recognized by APAC CIOOutlook Magazine as the recipient of “Top Data Center Consulting/Service companies in APAC,” based on our proprietary methodology, reflecting its position in the industry. This profile has been developed by the APAC CIOOutlook research and editorial team based on insights from an interview with Akira Shirahase.

NTT Smart Connect
Connecting to the Future

NTT Smart Connect

CIO VendorAkira Shirahase, CEO
The fourth industrial revolution has started. The internet is growing as the driving force of shaping “the better future”, helping to utilize the technologies, such as AI and IoT, and causing the drastic increases of contents. Companies are facing with the preparation for responding to the future. Akira Shirahase, the CEO of NTT SmartConnect, says, “Our mission is to connect customers with the future by applying the experience we have cultivated.”

As the expansion of the internet led to the exponential growth of the network traffic, NTT SmartConnect has been pioneering the Internet Data Center (IDC) for 18 years. Located in Dojima, the heart of interconnection Point in Western Japan, the IDC has a reputation for the stable facility, internet backbone, and high connectivity to various major IX, ISPs and Carriers.

Connecting with the world from Osaka

In 2000, founded as a subsidiary company of NTT-WEST, the Japanese largest telecommunications company, NTT SmartConnect launched the career-free IDC service “Media Connect”, making the most of NTT WEST's technology and experience.

Attracting major Japanese IXs, ISPs, Carriers, and Contents Providers, the IDC grew to one of the greatest IDCs in Japan. At present, NTT SmartConnect manages 3,000 racks, 200G backbone (AS7671) and Peering in their IDC. The IDC business and the internet backbone enabled it of cultivating the streaming service “SmartSTREAM” and the cloud service “SmartConnect Cloud Platform”.
Consequently, NTT SmartConnect has enough capabilities to respond to not only requests for the IDC, but also the demands in various industries such as the media, entertainment, government, and so on.

For example, NTT SmartConnect provides the infrastructure to deliver paid broadcast media and internet radio through its internet backbone for more than 10 years. Then, in 2016, it delivered the address of the former USA president, Barack Obama at Commemorative ceremony held in Hiroshima. Recently, it succeeded in simultaneous live distribution of the 4K video and high-resolution sound to the remote location without degradation first in the world with its own video platform and Internet backbone. Looking to the coming 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, NTT SmartConnect is evolving the video distribution technology. The experiences, abilities and challenges are the reason why the largest overseas contents provider chose for the base of the internet infrastructure in Japan.

The reason of Osaka

There are several reasons many players select Osaka as the base for the internet infrastructure. First, Japanese internet infrastructure is divided into west and east. Supposing a contents provider delivers its service to the whole country, it should connect with the major internet service providers in Osaka as well as in Tokyo. The point of presence in Osaka is inevitable to manage the internet traffic effectively. Second, internet traffic in Osaka is increasing because Osaka is one the most visited city from overseas in these years. Moreover, Osaka is suitable for load balancing and countermeasures against disaster especially after 11th March, 2011, the Eastern Japan was struck by earthquake and Tsunami.

Finally and most importantly, NTT SmartConnect emphasizes “Support Service” for the customer. It is hard for most overseas customers to visit the Data Center for setting or maintenance many times. So, NTT SmartConnect provides the 24/7 onsite support services in English. The customers appreciate the support services with “plentiful menu and high quality”, which can be one of the reasons why NTT SmartConnect is chosen.

Currently, NTT SmartConnect will open new Data Center “Kitahama” as an extended site of the Dojima, interconnecting by solid optical fibers. Located in about 2km eastward from Dojima, the Kitahama customers still can take advantage of the high internet connectivity and the peering circumstance virtually same as in Dojima.

NTT SmartConnect continues to bring innovation along with improved customer engagement, contributing to create a society that truly connects to the future.
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Company
NTT Smart Connect

Headquarters
Osaka, Japan

Management
Akira Shirahase, CEO

Description
NTT SmartConnect contributes to the smart lifestyle through challenging new technologies and secure platform services

2018

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