(keitai-l) OT: The myth of the expensive phone line in Japan

This is slightly off-topic, but since the expensive land line
always gets recognized as the driving force for the Keitai
boom here in Japan, let me clarify:

I just bought (rented) a new land line for my new apartment
and paid exactly 800Yen (eight hundred yen ~ 10USD) for it.

How is this possible? Easy, but there is a catch.

NTT offers 2 (or 4 if you also count the ISDN option) different
options in purchasing land lines:

The expensive and often quoted one for 72,000Yen and the 
cheap one for 800Yen. 

The differences between the lines are in the details:

1) Purchase fee: 72,000Yen
   Monthly base fee: 2,600Yen
   You have the right to "sell" this line to somebody,
   eg: the owner can change.
   
2) Purchase fee: 800Yen  
   Monthly base fee: 3,240Yen (640Yen more!)
   This line can travel with you if you move,
   but you can not sell this line, it stays
   registered to the original purchaser.
   
So basically in about 11years the first option is cheaper
than the second. 

And yes, these information are official from NTT. This mail
is transmitted through the 800Yen land line.

Enjoy,

Juergen
-- 
Juergen Specht, CTO, Nooper.com - Mobile Services Inc., Tokyo, Japan
i-mode & FOMA consulting, development, testing:  http://nooper.co.jp
Check Nooper, your little intelligent email buddy: http://nooper.com