July 23, 1999

 

NTT Communications Corporation, the new long-distance and global telecommunications company formed as a result of NTT's recent reorganization, today applied for approval to and notified the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications of its new Arcstar Direct service. The service will commence shortly after approval.

Arcstar Direct represents a first step for NTT Communications in providing local access. Arcstar Direct offers reduced telephone charges by connecting users directly to the NTT Communications inter-prefectural network. It will be provided as an end-to-end service of NTT Communications using the facilities of NTT East and NTT West as leased lines.

The service will be available for ISDN primary rate interface (PRI) inbound and outbound communications (both voice and 64 kbit/s digital modes). This interface is the equivalent to the one used for NTT East’s and NTT West’s INS-Net 1500.

The initial service area will comprise Sapporo, Sendai, Chiba, Tokyo (23 wards), Kawasaki, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Takamatsu, Hiroshima and Fukuoka. Expansion is anticipated in proportion to customer demand.

In addition to normal outbound and inbound phone call services, optional functions, such as FreeDial (toll-free line), Members Net (intra-company VPN) and Caller ID will be made available. Other value-added services will be added according to customer demand.

 

Monthly Fees and Charges

In addition to a one-time setup fee for each contracted line, users will be required to pay a monthly service fee of ¥30,000. Also, a monthly network fee will be required which will be, for example, ¥149,000 (when Digital Access 1500 Type 1 lines within 15-kilometers are used). Such charges will apply for each contracted line.

Optional services cost extra. For example, Members Net costs ¥5,750 per month for each contracted line (equivalent to 23 subscriber lines), and FreeDial costs ¥1,000 for each B channel.

Charges for line use are based on length of time. Using Arcstar Direct, long-distance charges will be 22% less than normal long-distance call charges. Local-calls will cost ¥10 for 5 minutes during normal daytime and evening hours and ¥10 for 7 minutes during late night and early morning hours.

 

Comparison of Usage Charges for Three-Minute Call

Current

	Usage Charges
	daytime	evening	late night and early morning
local	¥10 (up to 3 min)	¥10 (up to 3 min)	¥10 (up to 4 min)
adjoining area (up to 20 km)	¥20	¥20	¥20
up to 30 km	¥40	¥40	¥30
up to 60 km	¥50	¥50	¥30
up to 100 km	¥80	¥60	¥40
more than 100 km	¥90	¥80	¥60

Note 1: Daytime calls on weekends and holidays cost the same as evening calls.
Note 2: Charges for toll free calls from public telephones, cellular phones and PHSs differ from the above chart.

 

Arcstar Direct

	Usage Charges
	daytime	evening	late night and early morning
local	¥10 (up to 5 min)	¥10 (up to 5 min)	¥10 (up to 7 min)
adjoining area (up to 20 km)	¥15.6	¥15.6	¥15.6
up to 30 km	¥31.2	¥31.2	¥23.4
up to 60 km	¥39.0	¥39.0	¥23.4
up to 100 km	¥62.4	¥46.8	¥31.2
more than 100 km	¥70.2	¥62.4	¥46.8

Note 1: Daytime calls on weekends and holidays cost the same as evening calls.
Note 2: Charges for toll free calls from public telephones, cellular phones and PHSs differ from the above chart.

Increased discounts are possible with contracts of Member’s Net Super Discount, FreeDial Super Discount and Single Location Discount services.

 

Member’s Net Super Discount 25

• Additional 30% discount for long-distance calls for on-net service within Members Net networks (result: approximately up to 45% less than normal charges)
• Approximately up to 42% discount on normal charges for long-distance calls for off-net service outside Members Net networks

FreeDial Super Discount 30

• Additional 30% discount on all long-distance charges for FreeDial lines (result: approximately up to 45% less than normal charges)

Single Location Discount 25

• Additional 25% discount on all long-distance charges

(result: approximately up to 42% less than normal charges)

NTT Communications will actively develop further value-added businesses and diversify local access.