Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has opened a public comment period on revised cost inputs for the wholesale charges NTT East and NTT West levy on rivals that use their copper-line network. Comments are due by 2 December 2026, and the amended ordinance would take effect on 1 April 2027.
What the draft changes
The draft amends the Class 1 Designated Telecommunications Facilities Interconnection Charge Rules. It rewrites two appendix tables: the values used to calculate net fixed asset value and the values used to calculate costs. Charges for the metal-line accommodation function and the general relay router connection transmission function are set under a long-run incremental cost method. The new numbers are for the fiscal year that begins in April 2027.
The ministry says the values reflect the ninth meeting of a working group on interconnection charge calculation, held by circulation on 29 and 30 October 2026. The group sits under the Information and Communications Council's telecommunications business policy committee.
The draft's before-and-after table shows movement in both directions. Selected items:
| Parameter | Proposed | Current |
|---|---|---|
| Feeder conduit total length (km) | 116,822 | 118,639 |
| Packets per Mbps, IP data (pps/Mbps) | 116 | 108 |
| Aerial metal cable economic life (years) | 29.3 | 37.5 |
| Underground metal cable economic life (years) | 47.6 | 46.5 |
| Conduit economic life (years) | 68.9 | 67.6 |
| Metal cable maintenance per subscriber line (¥) | 84 | 104 |
Aerial metal cable gets a shorter assumed life, while underground metal cable and conduit get longer ones. Land price adjustment factors also change by prefecture. Tokyo rises to 1.3468 from 1.2420, and Okinawa to 1.5714 from 1.4733.
Maintenance cost assumptions are mostly lower. The maintenance cost per kilometre of metal cable in Tokyo falls to ¥68,741 from ¥69,941, and the figure per subscriber line falls to ¥84 from ¥104. The administrative overhead ratio for metal IP telephony rises to 0.1345 from 0.1297. The ratio for optical IP telephony is 0.1555, against 0.1556 now.
The draft gives the inputs, not the resulting charges. It does not state what NTT East and NTT West would charge under them.
Timing and transition
The supplementary provisions let the minister issue a notice on calculation procedures before the ordinance takes effect. Carriers with approved interconnection terms may apply for changes before that date, and the minister may approve them early. If an application is decided after 1 April 2027, the existing terms are treated as compliant until the decision date.
How to comment
Comments must be in Japanese and can be filed through the e-Gov portal, by email or by post to the ministry's telecommunications charges and services division. Submissions over 1,000 characters need a summary. The ministry says it may publish the names of organisations and their representatives that submit comments; the names of individual submitters are excluded. It will not answer individual comments.