NTT Inc

Metaplanet acquired former Siiibo Securities, which handles privately placed corporate bonds, for 210 million yen and changed its name to Metaplanet Securities in July; the subsidiary securities firm recounted the two months leading up to the acquisition. On September 29, the Financial Services Agency announced it would support a pilot program using stablecoins for trade settlement, with six companies participating: TradeWaltz, NTT Data, Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking. On September 28, Coinbase announced on X that it will soon offer a service allowing users to open Pokémon card packs on smartphones. On October 2, Metaplanet corrected a total of four documents including previously filed annual securities reports, revising a statement that CEO Simon Gerovich indirectly holds a majority of voting rights in shareholder MMXX Ventures Limited to clarify that he does not hold a majority. On September 30, KDDI, au Coincheck Digital Assets, and HashPort announced they will begin offering the crypto asset wallet αU wallet as a mini app within the au PAY app.

Japan's Financial Services Agency announced on September 29 that it has decided to support a proof-of-concept experiment using stablecoins for trade settlement. Six companies will take part: TradeWaltz, NTT Data, Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation. The pilot, running from September for the time being, will link the trade information platform TradeWaltz with a stablecoin infrastructure, examining technical and legal issues with the aim of speeding up trade settlement and making paperwork more efficient. In the experiment, exporting companies will submit export documents to banks on TradeWaltz, and settlement via stablecoin will be triggered by the bank's approval of the purchase of export receivables. The scope will initially be limited to the purchase of export receivables and fund settlement between exporting companies and banks, rather than all settlements across a trade transaction, so that practical issues can be identified within a specific area of operations. The FSA set up its Payments Innovation Project in November 2025, and this experiment is the fourth supported under that project and the fifteenth overall for the FinTech Proof-of-Concept Hub.

IOWN, the next-generation communications infrastructure using cutting-edge optical technology that NTT is researching and developing, is accelerating moves toward practical application. The technology replaces electrical signals with optical signals for information transmission and processing, achieving high capacity, low latency, and low power consumption, with full-scale adoption and social implementation targeted for around 2030. NTT Chief Executive Fellow and IOWN Global Forum Chairman Takehiko Kawazoe, who named the IOWN concept and heads the international promotion organization, pointed out that internet latency and the concentration of profits among a handful of giant IT companies create problems in fields such as autonomous driving, telemedicine, and national security, and expressed the view that 'AI sovereignty' must be protected through IOWN's characteristic ability to physically separate optical wavelengths by industry and by country. For broader adoption, the IOWN Global Forum, established in January 2020, now has nearly 175 member organizations, and NTT is pursuing collaboration with a diverse range of companies rather than going it alone. Kawazoe explained that the world's first invented optical transistor can theoretically operate on one-hundredth the energy of conventional technology, and even at the current stage can cut required energy to one-eighth, saying that delivering AI's value while curbing power consumption will lead to a sense of acceptance toward innovation.

NTT Docomo announced on the 25th that it will raise monthly fees by 110 to 550 yen on some of its rate plans. The increase will take effect on December 1, reflecting higher electricity and labor costs as well as increased capital investment aimed at improving its communications environment. More than 50 plans are affected, and this marks the company's first price hike to include existing plans. The increase will affect more than 30 million contracts, or roughly 75 percent of Docomo's total subscriptions. Under its flagship eximo plan, the minimum price before discounts will rise by 550 yen to 5,115 yen from the current 4,565 yen. The low-cost ahamo plan will also have its pricing structure revised, with the minimum data allowance raised from 30 gigabytes to 40 gigabytes while the monthly fee rises from 2,970 yen to 3,135 yen.

D-Wave Quantum has executed a definitive agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce, based on its previously announced Letter of Intent, giving it access to up to $100 million in funding under the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act to accelerate research and development of its annealing and gate-model quantum systems. NTT DOCOMO, Japan's largest mobile operator, deployed a second D-Wave-powered quantum computing application in production, which cut location-registration signals generated when devices crossed tracking-area-list boundaries by 65.3% at the daily peak and reduced paging signals by 7.0%. D-Wave was also awarded up to CAD $300,000 from the National Research Council of Canada's Applied Quantum Computing Challenge program to advance annealing quantum computing software for commercial applications, and AT&T agreed to expand its use of D-Wave's quantum computing technology to address complex optimization challenges across its network operations. Separately, Rigetti plans to partner with HPE and Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center to build the TangleLab supercomputing testbed, delivering a 9-qubit Novera system to the testbed, which is funded by a $5 million National Science Foundation grant, while Quantum Computing signed a three-year framework agreement with Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar covering quantum computing, quantum sensing and quantum communications. Over the past year, QBTS shares have lost 36.2% compared with the broader Internet Software industry's 5.8% decline, and the stock trades at a forward 12-month price-to-sales ratio of 93.25X versus the industry average of 4.40X.

SBI Holdings announced on the 17th that it will make internet-related company Livedoor a wholly owned subsidiary. It will acquire all of Livedoor's shares from parent company Minkabu The Infonoid for about 7.5 billion yen. SBI Chairman and President Yoshitaka Kitao and Takafumi Horie, who led Livedoor, once clashed in the battle for Nippon Broadcasting System shares, so the two have now come together as a group, transcending their past feud. SBI will strengthen its media business by leveraging Livedoor's assets, including its news sites in Japan and overseas. Minkabu will also form a capital alliance with NTT Data, and the three companies including SBI will consider new services in the financial sector, aiming to become a financial information platformer originating in Japan.

The Nikkei reported that San-in Godo Bank aims to issue digital bonds for the first time by a regional bank within fiscal year 2026. In collaboration with NTT Data and the Japan unit of US-based Securitize, the bank will build an issuance platform that can also be used by small and medium-sized enterprises. The digital bonds will adopt a self-offering method, where the issuer sells directly to investors without going through securities companies. The issuance amount is expected to be several hundred million yen, with plans to allow individual investors to purchase from tens of thousands of yen per unit. These are a type of security token issued and managed on a blockchain, suitable for operational efficiency and small-lot sales, and can reduce fee burdens compared to conventional bonds. The plan is to link NTT Data's core system, the "Regional Banks Joint Center," which is used by 13 regional banks, with Securitize's platform, with the aim of expanding to other regional banks in the future. San-in Godo Bank anticipates annual issuance demand of several billion yen, targeting about 10 client companies.

NTT shares rose for a fourth consecutive session, closing at 159.9 yen and nearing the psychological threshold of 160 yen. The first-quarter results for fiscal 2026, announced on August 6, showed operating revenue up 10.9 percent year on year to 3.6177 trillion yen and operating profit up 4.9 percent to 425.1 billion yen, marking higher revenue and profit. The global solutions business was a key driver, with operating revenue climbing 16.4 percent to 1.2269 trillion yen. While full-year net profit is forecast to decline 5.5 percent from the previous year to 980 billion yen, first-quarter progress reached about 28 percent, indicating a solid start. The company is also making progress on its share buyback and has implemented a shareholder benefit program offering d Points.

NTT Docomo and SoftBank announced on the 30th that communication disruptions caused by the earthquake in Kumamoto Prefecture have been restored. In addition to repairing faults in the transmission lines to base stations, normal voice and data communications are now available via the Starlink satellite network and other means.

D-Wave Quantum has expanded its network optimization partnership with AT&T after demonstrating that its annealing quantum computers can solve a network optimization problem in 15 seconds, a task that previously took over an hour using classical methods. The initial engagement began several months ago, and the results were so compelling that AT&T decided to broaden the collaboration to explore additional applications such as outage detection, technician routing, and overall network operation optimization. D-Wave CEO Alan Baratz noted that the company is also applying its quantum systems to optimization challenges for other clients, including Ford Otosan for automotive body assembly and NTT Docomo for cell tower resource optimization. Separately, D-Wave has transferred its stock listing from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq.

FamilyMart and NTT Docomo, along with another company, have begun a trial of a mobile store in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture, which was affected by the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake. The vehicle is equipped with a deep fryer and coffee machine to sell freshly made products, and carries Starlink satellite communication equipment and storage batteries. In the event of a disaster, the plan is to provide daily necessities and food and drink free of charge at evacuation centers. The vehicle can also collect footage of road damage via its dashcam and share it using its communication functions.

NTT Docomo subsidiary NTT Docomo Financial Group announced it will gradually roll out services such as bank account opening at Docomo Shops from August, expanding to 1,000 stores by the end of the year. Docomo Shops already allow account opening with Monex Securities, but from August they will also handle account opening and mortgage consultations for SBI Sumishin Net Bank, which is scheduled to be renamed Docomo SMTB Net Bank in August. The consumer-facing brand will be refreshed as Docomo Bank. At a press conference, Docomo FG President Takashi Hiroi said the group will deepen service collaboration among group companies and provide financial services tailored to individual needs.

NTT is preparing a major global debt sale that could raise around $10 billion, potentially making it the largest offshore bond offering by an Asian corporate this year. The Japanese telecom giant's finance unit began marketing the multi-currency notes on Wednesday, with people familiar with the matter saying about half of the deal may come through U.S. dollar debt and the rest through euro- and pound-denominated tranches. The move comes during one of the busiest weeks for Japanese companies raising money overseas, after Nomura Holdings, Sony Group, and Toyota Motor each priced offerings of $1 billion or more. Japanese issuers have become Asia's largest borrowers in global bond markets as they fund growing acquisition activity with offshore capital, while Bank of Japan rate hikes have added volatility to the local market. Investor appetite could be supported by tight credit spreads, strong corporate earnings, and trillions of dollars in AI-infrastructure spending that has helped lift sentiment in debt markets.