CARRIER SELECTION SERVICE--PREPARING FOR A SMOOTH START

Carriers Association of Dialing Parity

(short name: MYLINE Carriers Association)

On April 14 (Fri.), the Carrier Selection Service to be offered by NTT East and NTT West, was finally approved after a careful two-year application and review process by the Minister Of Posts and Telecommunications. Carriers Association of Dialing Parity, whose membership is composed of participating carriers (telephone companies), is working hard to ensure a smooth start to service, scheduled for early May 2001. (The Association is managed by NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE EAST CORPORATION [NTT East], and henceforth will be referred to by its short name, MYLINE Carriers Association.) The Association will launch a giant publicity campaign next month aimed at informing phone customers about the service.

1. Central Features of Publicity Campaign

For Japanese and foreign residents in Japan, to whom the telephone is an indispensable part of modern life, the introduction of Carrier Selection Service (CSS) augurs dramatic change in telephone service. In view of the importance of fully informing the public about what the new service is and how it may be used, a massive publicity campaign will be undertaken, the main features of which are described below.

(1) Main Actor

MYLINE Carriers Association, composed of carriers who are planning to participate in the Carrier Selection Service, is in charge of executing the publicity campaign, with the goal of ensuring a trouble-free changeover when the service starts operating.

(2) Publicity Concept Geared to Diverse Clientele

1) Taking a cue from the comparatively unproblematic introduction in January 1999 of cellular phone, PHS, and the 11-digit phone system standard, the Association will carry out a large-scale publicity campaign in order to make certain that the Carrier Selection Service is successfully launched.

2) Given the wide diversity of phone customers, publicity will be conducted through all the major media, including television, radio, newspapers, magazines, commercial ad space in public transportation facilities, etc. In addition, publicity will appear in home pages, flyers piggybacking on NTT East and NTT West invoices, brochures and the like. Presentation will be clear and simple, using expressions that all viewers, readers and users can grasp quickly.

3) In consideration of the foreign residents in Japan, publicity and information will be provided through foreign-language media in Japan, and brochures and flyers in foreign languages will also be available.

(3) Launching Publicity

The media publicity campaign of MYLINE Carriers Association will begin in May this year, one year before the service goes into operation, in order to give ample time for the public to become thoroughly familiar with the Carrier Selection Service. Specifically, to maximize effectiveness in timing, the media campaign through television, newspapers, and radio will start at the end of the holiday break on Sunday, May 14.

The participating carriers want customers to experience as few problems as possible. With that in mind, the carriers decided to begin their respective media publicity campaigns in November this year, two months before the first day when applications will be accepted. This will give customers time to become familiar with the service before they see publicity and information from individual carriers.

(4) Campaign Icons

MYLINE Carriers Association have decided to use characters from the widely-known cartoon strip ÅgSazae-san,Åh to deliver its message in all advertising and publicity campaigns. Created by Machiko Hasegawa, Sazae-san was chosen for its human warmth, and the family-oriented image that the cartoon has projected for decades in Japan, where its characters are a well-loved part of the popular culture. MYLINE Carriers Association hope that the use of high profile icons from the popular family show will encourage families to use the new service at home. ÅgSazae-sanÅh and her family will appear in the advertisements, announcements, and publicity that the MYLINE Carriers Association places in newspapers, television, magazines, and public transportation ad space. As symbols of the Carrier Selection Service, these characters will promote widespread dissemination of information while helping customers learn about the new service.

(5) Advice and Precautions

MYLINE Carriers Association is very serious about its policy of making customers aware of certain considerations and potential problems, so that once service begins it may proceed smoothly. The following items are strongly emphasized in publicity and information materials.

1) Application in Writing Required

Applications for this service must be made in writing (on the prescribed application form with signature or personal stamp) as a measure to prevent dishonest or underhanded practices, such as changing the registered carrier without the consent of the user, (i.e. slamming).

2) Making Calls Without Subscribing to the Service

Customers who do not register with carriers for the Carrier Selection Service are advised that they may still use their telephones after the service begins operating. In that case, local and in-prefecture long-distance calls will be connected through NTT East or NTT West, and out-of-prefecture long-distance calls will be connected through NTT Communications. For international calls, each call will require dialing the carrier access code of the desired carrier.

3) Other Precautions

* Avoid Unfair Sales

Customers are advised that, after they begin using Carrier Selection Service, their current phones and installations may still be used without modification. Moreover, customers are forewarned to resist unfair sales practices aimed at the sale of unnecessary telephone equipment to unwitting CSS users who are erroneously informed that their present phone equipment cannot be used with the new service.

* Services Not Included

MYLINE Carriers Association makes it clear that the new service does not apply to mobile phone calls such as PHS and cellular phone calls, or to public telephones. Furthermore, the new service also does not apply to toll-free, Dial Q², Sharp Dial, 117, 110, 119, and 177.

* Using Discount Services

Depending on how a customer registers for carriers, in some cases it may not be possible to use certain kinds of flat-rate or credit card discount services.

2. Facilities to Handle Inquiries and Complaints

Starting May 14, Sunday, coinciding with the first day of the publicity campaign, a toll-free central information service center for customers of all carriers will be inaugurated to receive all types of customer inquiries and complaints. Besides Japanese, this central information service center will be equipped to serve foreign residents in Japan by receiving inquires in English, Chinese, Spanish, and Portuguese.

- Phone-in customer service desk (English, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese) 0120-000-406 (Open May 14, 2000, open year-round except 12/29 - 1/3, 9:00 - 17:00) - Phone-in customer service desk (Japanese) 0120-000-747 (Open May 14, 2000, open year-round except 12/29 - 1/3, 9:00 - 17:00)

In addition, each of the member carriers in the MYLINE Carriers Association has its own information desk where customers are encouraged to make inquiries.

The MYLINE Carriers Association website can be accessed as soon as the press releases go out. Viewers are encouraged to visit for a description of all the main features of the Carrier Selection Service.

* MYLINE Carriers Association Home Page (open April 17, 2000)

http://www.myline.org

 

3. Blocking Unfair Marketing Practices

All member carriers in the MYLINE Carriers Association will carry out their own PR and other marketing efforts to attract customer registrations. However, the Association wants to make sure that customers do not run into difficulties. To prevent unfair or inappropriate marketing activities and practices, such as slamming (making a registration with a given carrier without the customer's consent), or exaggerated advertising to bring in clientele, the Association has established a set of voluntary rules and constraints with which all member carriers will comply.

4. MYLINE CARRIERS ASSOCIATION STARTING MEMBERS* Participants in the Publicity Campaign

Note 1: Covers all prefectures in Kyushu; does not include Okinawa Prefecture and outlying islands.

Note 2: Eastern Japan includes Tokyo, the surrounding six prefectures (Chiba, Saitama, Tochigi, Gunma, Ibaraki, and Kanagawa), Yamanashi prefecture, and Shizuoka prefecture (as well as the area east of Fuji-River); does not include outlying islands of the above prefectures.

Note 3: Covers the Hokkaido, Tohoku and Kanto regions as well as Niigata, Yamanashi and Nagano Prefectures.

Note 4: Covers the Hokuriku, Kinki, Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu regions as well as Gifu, Shizuoka, Aichi and Mie Prefectures.

* DDI and KDD are currently undertaking preparations to merge in October of this year.

* Members as of April 2000. Other carriers might join/drop in the future.