TOKYO, May 6, 2021—Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. landlines serving greater Tokyo May 6 were totally disabled as they were apparentluy swamped and disrupted by giant waves of calls to municipal offices from people scrambling to secure Covid-19 vaccination appointments.
NTT East (Nippon Telegraph & Telephone East Corp.), a former telecom monopoly serving the greater Tokyo area, is limiting landline arrival calls May 6 morning, according to Japanese media reports, attributing the telecom’s measure to Covid-19 vaccination appointment calls began May 6 morning at some of Tokyo’s municipalities. On NTT East’s phone repair service number, 113, a recorded voice meassege said the telecom was busy handling incoming calls.
During the March 11, 2011 great earthquake-tsunami disaster, mobile phone lines were disrupted for days but landline phone calls from individual home, office and pay phones remained alive and usseable.
It is the reason why the government is requiring telephone companies to keep pay phone booths every 500 meters or so in Tokyo and other big cities, and 1,000 meters in smaller urban areas. In exchange, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is authorizing the telecoms to collect ‘Universal Service’ fees from telephone users, including mobile phone users.
Recently, though, the ministry began deliberating the telecoms’ request to reduce the number of pay phones by widening the distances between public pay phones installed. Speculation is rife that the telecoms, with the nod of pro-telecom prime minister Suga, already have significantly reduced landline phone capacities – a potential reason for the current inconvenience.
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