NTT Kanto Medical Center is cutting edge and when I went there last month, I didn't think it was at all strange to be visiting a hospital owned by a telephone company (NTT is Nippon Telephone & Telegraph, Japan's Bell Telephone). It didn't even cross my mind.
But when a friend described his recent problems with midwest US telephone provider Ameritech (crossing phone lines, no response to service requests, untrained workers), I wondered what I would do if I were visiting "Ameritech General Hospital." Turn tail and run, I think.
So when I went back to the NTT hospital yesterday, I observed carefully. Except for the payphones on every floor and the logo on the signs, there was no evidence of telco ownership. Operations were very efficient and I was even seen before my appointed time. Not a single crossed wire.
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