Japanese telecom opens liason office at UW-Platteville

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. is opening a liason office with one or two staff members on the University of Wisconsin-Platteville campus. Hiroki Tanaka, vice president and general manager of NTT Energy and Environment Systems Laboratories, is responsible for seeking out opportunities for the company to expand further in the area.

NTT and UW-Platteville began their relationship during governor Jim Doyle's trade mission to Japan in September 2004. Now, the company is also offering research fellowships – Tyler Long, a UW-Platteville chemistry major, will be the first to spend six months in Japan working in NTT's laboratories as part of the program.

Tanaka said the firm chose Platteville because it has "good people, good technology and a good market." But to find out how much of a market there is for the Japanese company, initially the office here will primarily gather information.