normt@ihlpy.att.com (Norman R Tiedemann) (08/21/90)
A short time back, there was a discussion about telephone rates between USA and Japan and which way was cheaper. A few people quoted some rates, but I never saw a good collection. Since I was in Japan last week, I checked over there with the three Japanese long distance companies and I checked over here with three carriers: AT&T, MCI, and US-Sprint. Here is the summary list of comparison. The Yen/Dollar rate used is 150. That is midway between the buy and sell rates quoted last week. (And it makes the division easier). (-: AT&T MCI US-Sprint Japan Time 2PM-8PM (1st minute) 3.05 2.89 2.87 (4AM-10AM) (2-n minute) 1.24 1.17 1.18 8PM-3AM (1st minute) 2.55 2.52 2.54 (10AM-5PM) (2-n minute) .99 .98 .98 3AM-2PM (1st minute) 2.16 2.15 2.15 (5PM-4AM) (2-n minute) .81 .80 .80 The basic calling rates for all three Japanese phone companies are the same, but the features are different. KDD is the only one that offers operator assisted calls, and appears to bill in six second increments. ITJ has a different rate if you are calling from a pay phone (which is cheaper for short calls only). IDC offers all sorts of automated time and charges callback, and alternate billing features. (The alternate companies are reached just like here, with an access code. IDC's features are accessed using different access codes.) 1st 2-n ITJ Pay Phone BASIC RATE FOR ALL 3 COMPANIES Minute Minute (All Minutes) M-F 8AM-7PM 2.27 1.13 1.45 M-F 7PM-11PM, WkEnd 8AM-11PM 1.80 .93 1.18 11PM-8AM 1.33 .73 .90 KDD is the "standard" (until two years ago, national phone company). Access 001... ITJ is the International Telecom Japan (its slogan is "Digital Optical Fiber"). Access 0041... IDC is the Intrntl. Digital Communications Inc. (It's slogan is "The Intelligent Choice"). Access 0061... (0062-0065 for feature calls) These are all calculations on the rates quoted, the ITJ pay phone rate quotes is #seconds/100 Yen rate, the basic rate for KDD is calculated from a Yen/6 seconds rate (both the first and addition minutes). NOTES AND EXCEPTIONS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION MCI has a bulk rate plan to four Asian Countries including Japan which costs $3.00/month and allows you to call between 10PM and 2PM (almost the full two cheaper periods) for only $.79 per minute (including the first minute). Using AT&T's USA DIRECT from Japan to the US is the same as the premium rate plus a service charge. (Access 0039-111) Those rates, all times all days, are: Service charge 2.50 1st Minute 3.05 2-n Minute 1.24 KDD Operator Assisted Rates are: (I didn't find out about US rates for this) besides, does anybody really use these anymore? Station-Station (first 3 minutes) $12.60 Person - Person (first 3 minutes) $21.00 Each Addition Minute for both $ 3.00 That's all the info I have. The basic conclusions are: 1.) Only in the premium time do you save "significantly" over AT&T with the other 2 US carriers. 2.) The rates are generally cheaper calling from Japan to the USA, but it depends on the time you are calling. (It is interesting to note that Japan's Premium rate is during their working hours, while USA's are when both countries might have people in the office.) 3.) If you make a lot of calls during the cheaper period the MCI bulk plan could save you some money. Hope this is of interest to someone. Norm Tiedemann AT&T Bell Labs IH 2G-419 att!ihlpy!normt 2000 Naperville Rd. normt@ihlpy.att.com Naperville, IL 60566
Norman R Tiedemann <normt@ihlpy.att.com> (08/22/90)
To add to my comparison of phone rates between USA and Japan: AT&T has a "Reach Out World" Plan which can includes Japan. The costs and times are very similar to MCI's except after 10 minutes of calling per month the rate actually drops below MCI's. AT&T Reach Out World to Japan: $3.00 per month charge (same as MCI) Calling times 10PM-2PM (same as MCI) Cost $ .80 per minute (the standard one cent more than MCI) BUT after ten minutes per month the cost goes to $ .76 per minutes, a whole three cents per minute less than MCI's plan. So for lots of calling, this is the cheapest USA -> Japan and almost the cheapest around. (Japan to USA, after the first minute rate of 0.73 is still cheaper based on 150 Yen/Dollar exchange.) Here I worked for the company and I didn't know about this plan until someone else told me about it. Norm Tiedemann AT&T Bell Labs IH 2G-419 att!ihlpy!normt 2000 Naperville Rd. normt@ihlpy.att.com Naperville, IL 60566
Jim Gottlieb <jimmy@icjapan.info.com> (08/23/90)
In article <11085@accuvax.nwu.edu> normt@ihlpy.att.com (Norman R. Tiedemann) writes: > AT&T MCI US-Sprint Japan Time ^^^^^^^^^^ Note that the times listed are relative to Central time (U.S.). The time in Japan is different for those in other time zones. >KDD is the only one that offers operator assisted calls, This is true. >and appears to bill in six second increments. All the carriers's rates are based on six-second increments. But calls from public telephones must be charged slightly differently, as the phone can not collect 32 yen (or whatever) every six seconds. It can only collect 100 yen per X seconds. >KDD is the "standard" (until two years ago, national phone company). You are thinking of NTT, which was privatized two years ago. KDD (Kokusai Denshin Denwa [International Telegraph & Telephone]) has always been a private company (at least as private as big companies in Japan get). >ITJ is the International Telecom Japan (its slogan is "Digital > Optical Fiber"). Access 0041... >IDC is the Intrntl. Digital Communications Inc. (It's slogan is "The > Intelligent Choice"). Access 0061... (0062-0065 for feature calls) Likewise, ITJ uses 0042 and 0043 for some of its features. IDC is partially owned by, among others, Pacific Telesis. IDC, however, has inferior connections to ITJ. I don't know if they are using some kind of compression or what, but their calls to the U.S. always sound muddy. >MCI has a bulk rate plan to four Asian Countries including Japan which >costs $3.00/month and allows you to call between 10PM and 2PM (almost >the full two cheaper periods) for only $.79 per minute (including the >first minute). AT&T has an identical plan except that the rate is $0.81 per minute. I keep meaning to order that for the line my Telebit uses to call here twice a day on. >(It is interesting to note that Japan's Premium rate is during >their working hours, while USA's are when both countries >might have people in the office.) Yes, the rates from here to anywhere in the world use the same rate periods. AT&T figured out a few years back that they should base their rates on both time zones (and actual usage?). The cheapest time to call to Japan from the U.S. is the time when either _you_ are sleeping or the person you want to call is sleeping. Jim Gottlieb Info Connections, Tokyo, Japan <jimmy@pic.ucla.edu> or <jimmy@denwa.info.com> or <attmail!denwa!jimmy> Fax: +81 3 237 5867 Voice Mail: +81 3 222 8429