AT&T Corp’s Communications Services Japan has announced a new low cost international long-distance service to offer low-priced calls for voice, data and fax transmission to Japanese customers. Called AT&T World Access, the service is based on a callback mechanism which will be transparent to the customers and make use of the AT&T Worldwide Intelligent Network. Through this system the customer will pay 240 yen or $2 for three minutes to the US and Canada, compared to 450 yen $4 through the Japanese international carriers such as KDD, IDC and ITJ. However many Japanese, both individuals and businesses, have switched to cheap callback services offered by US companies such as Kallback, which are still slightly cheaper than AT&T even with the strengthening dollar. However the new AT&T service will be attractive to big business, as it will work transparently, without having to dial extra digits and wait for the call back from the US. AT&T also claims that with the new service it is working well within the letter of the law, and has the understanding of the Japanese regulators in the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications as well as companies such as KDD which are its partners in other international services. AT&T was on record as saying that callback represented misuse of lines, and its change of stance was in part due to the June 1995 announcement by the International Telecommunications Union that callback technology could be used to bring new competitiveness to the global telecommunications market. While AT&T’s new service uses a callback mechanism at the moment, John Legere, chief executive officer of AT&T Asia/Pacific Inc did not rule out a switch to other technologies in the future, such as the International Simple Resale mechanism. As well as the World Access service, two other new services were announced: a new plan for holders of AT&T’s Global Calling Card and a low-priced fax service.
