The nation's two major providers of Internet protocol phone services, Softbank BB Corp. and NTT Communications Corp., announced Wednesday they will let their customers use each other's networks to expand coverage of low-price services beginning in October.
The two companies hold a combined 70 percent of Japan's IP phone service market, they said, adding the tieup is likely to boost the use of IP phone communications.
Softbank BB has contracts for about 4.7 million lines, while NTT Communications has about 2.1 million, they said.
Customers who speak to people using the same IP phone service provider pay nothing, but communicating with someone using a different provider requires a little more than 10 yen per three minutes, because the companies' service networks are linked by fixed lines.
The deal between the two firms is expected to reduce the cost to about 8 yen per three minutes, they said.