For Immediate Release
December 16, 1997
NTT Submits Telephone Directory Assistance Service Charges Revision Plan for Approval
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) announced today that it submitted a plan for revising telephone directory assistance service charges to the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications for approval.1. Background
During fiscal 1996, a year in which NTT incurred a large deficit reaching approximately 95 billion yen, customers who used directory assistance at least twice a month accounted for 83% of all revenue-generating calls to the service, while 68% of NTT's customers never used the service and 17% used the service only once a month, meaning that the service is largely used by only a small proportion of customers. Furthermore, late night and early morning hours (23:00 - 8:00) accounted for only 4% of service use, and 98% of all NTT subscribers never used the service during these hours, even though NTT shouldered the cost of operating the service 24 hours a day.
NTT, to redress these imbalances and thereby cover the cost of providing directory assistance, has submitted a plan under which it will implement drastic reforms aimed at cutting service operation costs and revising service charges.
2. New Charges
(1) Operator-assisted searches
Current Charges Revised Charges First year of plan From second year Day/night time (8:00 - 23:00) One use per month ¥30 per use ¥50 per use ¥60 per use More than one use per month Once ¥30 per use ¥50 per use ¥60 per use Twice or more ¥60 per use ¥80 per use ¥90 per use Late night/early morning (23:00 - 8:00) ¥60 per use ¥120 per use ¥150 per use
Note: A charge of ¥100 will be assessed for completed operator-assisted searches from public pay phones, regardless of the number of calls placed any time of day. The charge for operator-assisted searches from public telephones installed in trains, however, will remain unchanged at ¥30.
(2) Electronic searches
Electronic searches conducted by users of personal computers or dedicated terminals (Angel Note) will be charged on a new per-search basis to reflect NTT's actual costs more fully. The search procedure for this service will be improved and, at the same time, NTT will introduce a new service for electronically searching telephone numbers from touch-tone telephones.
| Current Charges | Revised Charges | |
| Day/night time(8:00 - 23:00) | ¥10 per 3 minutes | ¥10 per 3 minutes, plus ¥15 per completed search |
| Late night/early morning (23:00 - 8:00) | ¥10 per 4 minutes | ¥10 per 4 minutes, plus ¥15 per completed search |
Note: The charge for a search from a public telephone will remain unchanged at ¥10 per 1 minute during the day and evening, and ¥10 per 80 seconds in the late night and early morning.
The telephone directory assistance service revenue is expected to be improved by approximately 15 billion yen per year.
3. Start of New Charges
NTT plans to introduce the new charges in April 1998, after receiving approval from the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications.
4. Other Services
NTT will also expand the scope of its free-of-charge "Fureai Service" directory assistance, currently limited to physically and sight-impaired individuals, to include mentally impaired individuals beginning in April 1998.
