Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. estimated the financial damage from last month’s earthquake and tsunami at 110 billion yen (USD 1.35 billion) groupwide. About 65,000 of NTT’s electric poles, mostly in northeastern Japan, were disabled. And 41 buildings were either destroyed or flooded. Cellular phone base stations and optical cables were damaged as well. As a result, NTT will book some 60 billion yen in expenses for fiscal 2010 and beyond. In addition about USD 613 million are required in capital investments to restore stricken facilities, as per company officials.

Meanwhile, East Japan Railway Co., or JR East, logged USD 720 million in extraordinary losses for the year ended March 31, including estimated charges yet to materialize. The disaster wreaked havoc on local train services and damaged overhead wires and bridge columns on bullet train lines in the Tohoku region. Including the roughly USD 724 million in lost revenue because of service suspensions, JR East’s quake related damage totaled USD 1.44 billion.