Press Releases (SoftBank BB Corp.) 2003

SOFTBANK BB To launch "BB Phone IP Centrex" (name tentative) next January Free calling among approximately 3 million "BB Phone" users Substantial reduction in corporate telecoms costs

October 24, 2003

SOFTBANK BB Corp. (Head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo: President & CEO: Masayoshi Son; hereinafter "SOFTBANK BB") is to launch a new corporate IP telephony service in January. The new service, "BB Phone IP Centrex" (name tentative),will use SOFTBANK BB's robust broadband infrastructure for internal telephone calls conventionally provided by PBX. The new service will reduce companies' telecommunications and equipment maintenance costs; thereby promote more efficient maintenance operations.

"BB Phone IP Centrex" is for corporate customers only. It will make use of IP Centrex equipment from NEC Corporation (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Akinobu Kanasugi) installed in the SOFTBANK BB network to provide the same internal telephone services ordinarily provided by PBX and push-button telephones. The stagnant state of business and economy is demanding greater operational efficiency and cost reduction. This new service will enable companies to cut telecommunications costs and, by having the network process PBX functions, will help them to save the costs associated with installing, operating and maintaining their own PBX.

The service works by dividing the company's branch offices and sales offices into "Closed User Groups" (CUGs,) which allows to assign internal numbers and setting other PBX functions, all of which can be done very flexibly. Calls within the same CUG and between CUGs in the same company are free. With the payment of an additional monthly base charge calculated on a per-line basis, calls are also free to and from approximately 3 million personal users of the "BB Phone" telephony service (estimate as at October 3; BB Phone boasts the largest number of users of any broadband telephone service in Japan), CUGs in other companies with the "BB Phone IP Centrex" service installed and corporate users of "BB Phone for Business"

To aid smooth transition to IP Centrex, SOFTBANK BB offers two options for companies that already have their own PBX: 1) installation in conjunction with an existing PBX and 2) full switchover to IP Centrex and decommissioning of the existing PBX. The service uses the "SIP" protocol providing call transfer, caller ID and other services similar to those offered by conventional telephone services.

"BB Phone IP Centrex" is designed for large businesses. However, small and medium-sized businesses can have the same benefit of telecommunications cost reduction of the new service as well, together with "BB Phone for Business" and "Yahoo! BB SOHO" that SOFTBANK BB offers.

To ensure the utmost in reliability and stability for its corporate broadband infrastructure services, SOFTBANK BB has established Customer Support Center that is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, providing reliable and broad range of support for all business. The company will continue to emphasize stable network operations and enhanced solutions as it works for the highest quality of broadband infrastructure for its customers.

  • *1PBX: "Private Branch exchange." a machine that connects internal telephone calls within a company and provides connections to ordinary subscriber lines, ISDN lines and other public telephone lines.
  • *2SIP: "Session Initiation Protocol:" A telecommunications control protocol used by IP telephony services and others. The standard was first announced in March 1999 and provides call transfer functions, caller ID functions and other services that make it closer to conventional telephone networks than other protocols.

"BB Phone IP Centrex" network diagram

Company Profile

SOFTBANK BB Corp.

Trade name SOFTBANK BB Corp.
Head office 24-1 Nihonbashi Hakozaki-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Representative President and CEO: Masayoshi Son
Date of Establishment May 16, 2000
Date of merger January 7, 2003
Type of Business The Company engages in the provision of broadband infrastructure and services centering on Yahoo! BB as well as in technical development, marketing, sales and support. The Company offers IT-related distribution and services, supervises, and administers affiliated broadband and e-commerce companies.
  • The information is true and accurate at the time of publication.
    Price, specification, contact and other information of products and service may be subjected to change. The information contains certain forward-looking statements that are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements.