FCC approval of the applications will permit the KDD group for the first time to offer customers in the U.S. "switched" international telephone, data and other telecommunications services, meaning an international call placed by a KDD customer from the U.S. will be connected in the destination country to the local public telephone network, giving the caller the ability to access every telephone number in that country.

KDD America will be able to offer U.S. customers competitively priced international telephone rates, taking advantage of bulk rates offered by facility-based American telecommunications carriers and point-to-point international private leased circuits connected to the destination countries' public telephone network.

FCC regulations limit resale of international private line service to countries that in the FCC's view afford U.S. resellers "equivalent" treatment. The countries currently deemed to be "equivalent" are the U.K., Canada, Sweden, Finland, Australia and New Zealand.

The KDD group last year launched Globridge, a service targeted at multinational corporate customers requiring point-to-point international private lines connecting, for example, the company's headquarters with its overseas subsidiaries. This new service was made possible by regulatory approvals granted last year permitting resale of "non-interconnected" international private leased line service with public switched networks between and among the U.S., U.K., Germany and Japan.

The services covered in the FCC applications will further expand and diversify the cost-effective and innovate telecommunications products the group is able to offer to its customers around the world.

The KDD group is currently undertaking procedures to obtain permission to offer similar telecommunications services in Europe.