Adding Digit, Tokyo Faces Phone Frenzy

The new year brings double trouble for the absent-minded in Tokyo. Along with remembering a new date, they’ll have to remember new telephone numbers.

Telephone numbers in the metropolitan area will expand to eight digits to cope with an overwhelming demand for more telephone lines, Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. said today.

After 2 a.m. Tuesday, callers will have to dial a “3” before the current seven-digit local Tokyo numbers. Beepers and phones in some areas of Tokyo already have eight digits, but most Japanese numbers currently have seven.

The change will affect about 6.14 million telephone numbers.

The seven-digit system has the capacity for 10 million numbers, but “with eight-digit numbers, we won’t have to worry about the lack of phone lines for a long time,” Haruo Maeda, a spokesman for NTT, said.

NTT has spent $37 million on the switch-over, including yearlong mechanical changes and public announcements since September.

Some confusion is expected at first.

“We are afraid many people may forget to fix numbers programmed into their fax machines, personal computers and telephone sets,” said Masatoshi Inadome of NTT’s customer service.

“The problem is that callers can hear our recorded reminder when they forget to add the extra digit, but fax users won’t,” he added.