Northern Telecom may sell phone gear to Japan.

Northern Telecom Ltd. hopes to sell a substantial number of sophisticated, American-built telephone switches to the Japanese within the next few years, the company’s chairman told Congress. Edmund B. Fitzgerald said the firm had agreed with Nippon Telegraph & Telephone to enter into studies that would include technical and economic evaluations for digital central office switching for the NTT network. He said he expected the studies to lead to a long-term suply contract for Northern Telecom’s DMS-10 system, manufactured in Research Triangle Park, N.C.