June 27, 2024 Establishment and Notification of Standard Charge Indices for Specified Telecommunication Services Provided by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone East Corporation (NTT East) and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone West Corporation (NTT West)

 The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), following Article 21, Paragraph 1 of the Telecommunications Business Act (Act No. 86 of 1984), has established the standard charge indices for specified telecommunication services (subscriber phone, ISDN, and public telephone) provided by NTT East (Headed by SHIBUTANI Naoki, President) and NTT West (Headed by KITAMURA Ryota, President and CEO). These standard charge indices are applicable for one year, from Tuesday, October 1, 2024, to Tuesday, September 30, 2025, and MIC has notified NTT East and NTT West of the indices today.

1. Notified standard charge index

Note: The initial value of the standard charge index is 100 (charge index as of April 1, 2000).
 The figures in parentheses are the current standard charge index (from October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024).

• *1
  Subscriber phones and ISDN (basic charge, telephone subscription fee, calling fee), public telephones (calling fee), and number guide fee

[Formula for calculating standard charge index]
Standard charge index = Standard charge index for the previous applicable period x (1 + Rate of change in consumer price index - Estimated rate of increase in productivity (X value) + Exogenous factors)

• (1)
  Standard charge index for the previous applicable period: 98.0
• (2)
  Rate of change in consumer price index (2023): 3.2%
• (3)
  X value^*2: 0%
• (4)
  Exogenous factors: 0

• *2
  The current X value (applicable from October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2027) is calculated based on the March 2024 report of the Study Group on the Operation of the Price Cap System

2. Particulars to date

 In December 2022, MIC held a meeting of the “Study Group on the Operation of the Charge Cap System” to compile basic ideas on how to calculate the standard charge index for setting the index. On Thursday, March 21, 2024, MIC consulted the Information and Communications Administrative and Postal Services Administrative Council on establishing a standard charge index. On Monday, May 20, 2024, MIC received a report from the council that it was appropriate to set the index according to the consultation.
 In addition, MIC consulted with the Consumer Affairs Agency based on the “Handling of New Settings and Changes to Public Utility Charges, etc.” (Agreement made at the Price Administrator’s Conference on March 14, 2011) and received a response that there were no objections.