Discontinued and Repurposed Number Bands - A Mirror of Telecom History
Japan's phone number system has been continuously reorganized to keep pace with technological evolution and social change. Number bands once used by tens of millions have been discontinued or repurposed for entirely different uses as demand vanished. Tracing the rise and fall of number bands is essentially tracing Japan's telecom history itself.
This article focuses on pagers (020 band), PHS (070 band's dedicated era), Dial Q2 (0990 band), and the evolving 0570 band. Read alongside How Phone Numbers Work for foundational context.
Pagers (020 Band) - The One-Way Communication Sensation
The Pager Boom
Pagers (pocket bells) were one-way communication devices that received short messages via phone lines. NTT (then Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation) launched the service in 1968, initially popular among businessmen. In the 1990s, pagers exploded among teenagers - especially high school girls - peaking at approximately 10.78 million subscriptions in 1996.
Pager numbers were initially assigned from the regular numbering system but later received the dedicated 020 band. Users called the pager number from a payphone or landline and sent numeric messages via push buttons. Numeric wordplay codes like "0840" (ohayo/good morning) and "14106" (aishiteru/I love you) became iconic symbols of 1990s youth culture.
Decline and End
As PHS and mobile phones spread rapidly in the late 1990s, users migrated to these two-way communication devices. NTT Docomo ended its pager service "QuickCast" in 2007. Tokyo Telemessage, the last remaining provider, ended service in September 2019, closing roughly 50 years of history.
After pagers were discontinued, the 020 band was redefined for IoT M2M (Machine to Machine) communications - vending machines, smart meters, and industrial sensors. The irony of a band that once symbolized youth culture now serving silent machine-to-machine communication epitomizes telecom evolution. The Evolution of Telephone Devices covers the pager-to-mobile transition in detail.
PHS (070 Band's Dedicated Era) - Swallowed by Mobile Phones
PHS Launch and Features
PHS (Personal Handy-phone System) launched in 1995 as a Japan-originated mobile communication standard. It offered higher voice quality and cheaper call rates than mobile phones. The 070 band was exclusively assigned to PHS, and "070 = PHS" became widely recognized.
PHS used a "microcell" approach with low-power base stations covering a radius of just a few hundred meters. This gave it excellent indoor call quality, and it was even permitted in hospitals where mobile phones were banned. At its 1997 peak, PHS had about 7 million subscribers across three providers: DDI Pocket (later Willcom), NTT Personal, and Astel.
Competition with Mobile Phones and Defeat
PHS's weakness was call quality during movement. The small coverage area of each base station caused frequent handovers during travel, leading to dropped calls. As mobile phone quality improved and prices fell, PHS lost its advantages.
NTT Personal was absorbed by NTT Docomo in 1998, and Astel ended service by 2006. Willcom (later Y!mobile) ended PHS service in July 2020, closing 25 years of history. A corporate "telemetering" service was extended to March 2023 but has also ended.
Repurposing the 070 Band
As PHS subscriptions declined, the 070 band was opened to mobile phones in November 2013. As explained in 090, 080, and 070 Numbers, today's 070 numbers are mobile phone numbers, not PHS. However, among generations who remember the PHS era, the "070 = PHS" perception persists, and some people view 070 calls with suspicion. This is a classic example of number band reorganization, also related to the history of phone number digit lengths.
Dial Q2 (0990 Band) - Light and Shadow of Premium-Rate Services
What Was Dial Q2?
Dial Q2 was a premium-rate information service launched by NTT in 1989. Calling a 0990 number provided audio information (weather, stock prices, horoscopes, sports scores), with information fees charged on top of call charges. Information providers applied to NTT for numbers and received a share of the collected fees.
Initially focused on practical information, the service was soon flooded with adult content and dating services. By 1991, monthly usage exceeded 10 billion yen, becoming a major revenue source for NTT. However, minors running up huge bills and billing disputes from unintended connections became a serious social problem.
Social Backlash and Regulation
The biggest issue was that information fees were bundled with phone bills. Children using the service without parental knowledge racked up bills of tens to hundreds of thousands of yen. "Dial Q2 damage" became a major social issue in the early 1990s, even reaching the National Diet. NTT introduced usage limits, minor restrictions, and fee caps, but could not fundamentally solve the problem.
As the internet made paid voice information obsolete, NTT terminated Dial Q2 in February 2014. The 0990 band is currently unassigned to any new service, effectively an "empty band." Books on Japan's telecom history cover Dial Q2's social impact in detail.
The Evolution of 0570 (Navi Dial)
Navi Dial (0570) launched in 1996 by NTT Communications as a nationwide unified number service. It routes calls to the nearest call center based on the caller's location, with the caller paying. This is the opposite billing model from Free Dial (0120).
While widely adopted for corporate customer service, 0570 has faced growing criticism. Being excluded from mobile unlimited calling plans means separate charges apply. Long hold times while waiting for an operator are particularly frustrating since charges accumulate throughout. The MIC has issued advisories about 0570 pricing, and some companies are switching from 0570 to regular landline numbers.
What Extinct Number Bands Teach Us
The history of discontinued and repurposed number bands vividly reflects the rise and fall of communication technologies. Pagers were replaced by mobile phones, PHS by smartphones, and Dial Q2 by the internet. The common thread: when a more convenient and cheaper alternative appears, existing services decline rapidly.
Today's mainstream 090, 080, and 070 bands could also be superseded by new communication technologies in the future. The MIC is considering opening the 060 band, and fundamental revisions to the numbering system - including why phone numbers start with 0 - are being discussed. Knowing the history of number bands provides clues for thinking about the future of communications.