Japan and the United States failed Thursday to bridge their gap over rate cuts in the interconnection fees Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. charges its competitors, a Foreign Ministry official said.
Japanese and U.S. delegations for their high-level deregulation talks this week in Tokyo only agreed to employ all available means to compile a report by March 31 -- the deadline for the third joint report on a comprehensive deregulation program, the official said.
The negotiations were initially scheduled only for Tuesday and Wednesday, but the two sides extended the talks for another day. They ended Thursday morning.