Telecommunications

August 2002

An advisory panel to the telecommunications minister called for an 8.2% reduction to the interconnection fee that Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. charges other carriers to access its phone lines. The discount should go into effect in fiscal 2003, the panel on information and telecommunications said in an interim report. The panel is expected to submit its report to the minister of telecommunications after consulting with concerned parties. If approved, the fee will be reduced from 4.5 Yen per three minutes to 4.13 Yen. The panel had considered a proposal to cut the interconnection fee by up to 51% but later decided against it as such a move would lead to a substantial rise in the basic phone charge. In July 2000, Japan and the United States agreed that NTT's interconnection fee should be cut 22.5% over the next three years. The two sides also agreed to review the fee two years later. The two countries are expected to hold talks on the issue this fall. NTT and regional carriers NTT East corp. and NTT West Corp. have voiced opposition to the fee reduction. (August 2, the Japan Times, the Asahi Shimbun, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, the Daily Yomiuri, the Yomiuri Shimbun)